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BV  1515  .C6  1911 

Cope,  Henry  Frederick,  1870- 

1923. 
The  evolution  of  the  Sunday 

school  — - — 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE 
SUNDAY   SCHOOL 


APR  16  1918 

Edited  by  CHARLES   FOSTER  KENT  '"       ""^ 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE 
SUNDAY  SCHOOL 


BT  ^ 

HENRY  FREDERICK  COPE 

General  Secretary  of  The  Religious 
Education  Association 


THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 

BOSTON  NEW  YORK         CHICAGO 


Cajryright,  1911 
By  Henry  Frederick  Cope 


THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 
BOSTON 


PREFACE 

Two  social  institutions  in  our  country  have  a 
larger  number  of  servants  and  expend  more 
money  than  any  others;  they  are  our  schools 
and  our  churches.  Neither  can  show  any  ma- 
terial, concrete  products,  such  as  we  see  coming 
from  factories  and  shops;  yet  both  are  absolutely 
essential  to  modern  social  and  material  welfare. 
There  are  many  points  at  which  these  two  insti- 
tutions come  together,  but  the  Sunday-school 
affords  the  point  of  closest  contact.  It  is  the 
church  school ;  it  is  the  expression  by  the  churches 
of  their  faith  in  the  method  of  the  schools,  and, 
in  America  at  least,  it  is  the  expression  by  the 
public  of  its  confidence  that  the  church  will  in 
time  meet  the  need  for  thorough  religious  educa- 
tion. 

The  primary  aim  of  this  book  is  to  study  the 
development  of  the  Sunday-school  with  a  view 
to  determining  whether  or  not  it  will  be  able  to 
meet  the  serious  and  steadily  increasing  demands 
of  the  present  age.  Its  past  development  reveals 
its  capacity  for  progressive  adaptation.  We 
look  back  that  we  may  the  better  go  forward. 


VI  PREFACE 

We  view  the  past  that  we  may  appreciate  the 
present.  We  see  in  the  sacrifices  that  our  fathers 
have  made  for  the  progress  of  the  school  the  call 
to  make  its  continued  progress  certain.  Over  a 
century  and  a  quarter  of  definite  progress  in  the 
Sunday-school  demands  that  none  of  the  effort 
of  the  past  shall  be  lost,  that  returns  shall  come 
from  all  the  life  investment  of  the  fathers  and 
old-time  teachers,  and  to  see  to  it  that  when  the 
story  of  this  present  transitional  era  shall  be 
written  it  may  be  worth  the  telling. 

A  review  of  Sunday-school  history  ought  also 
to  give  the  oflBcers  and  teachers  of  that  institu- 
tion today  valuable  help.  First,  in  enabling 
them  to  understand  the  exact  aims  and  character 
of  this  institution,  and  so  to  come  into  intelligent 
and  effective  relations  to  it.  Second,  in  giving 
them  encouragement  as  to  its  present  possibilities 
and  its  future  progress,  by  revealing  how  great 
is  the  advance  already  made.  Third,  in  sug- 
gesting for  their  encouragement  and  perseverance 
the  tremendous  vitality  of  this  institution,  show- 
ing how  it  has  surmounted  obstacles,  overcome 
prejudice  and  opposition  and  won  its  own  place 
in  the  church,  and  is  today  rapidly  winning  its 
proper  place  in  our  educational  system. 

The  point  of  view  in  this  brief  study  is  that  of 
the  layman  rather  than  of  the  specialist.  It 
seeks  to  show  how  in  a  perfectly  natural  manner. 


PREFACE  Vll 


as  the  result  of  the  outworking  of  an  inner  princi- 
ple of  education  and  not  as  a  consequence  of  any 
propaganda  or  any  demands  from  without,  an 
institution  of  large  influence  and  importance  has 
developed.  It  assumes  that  the  history  of  the 
Sunday-school  is  a  subject  of  sufficient  general 
interest  and  importance  to  justify  this  discussion. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  many  persons  to  whom 
the  Sunday-school  is  either  a  matter  of  indiffer- 
ence or  of  derision  because  of  its  many  failures 
and  its  general  inefficiency.  But  this  study  of 
its  history  should  suggest  that  we  cannot  afford 
to  neglect  so  influential  an  institution  and  that 
we  should  be  patient  with  it,  for  it  is  still  in 
process  of  development. 

The  author  disclaims  any  purpose  of  compre- 
hending the  whole  field  of  religious  education 
in  the  story  of  its  development.  He  has,  how- 
ever, endeavored  to  prepare  an  original  study, 
depending  on  reliable  and,  as  far  as  possible,  on 
primary  sources  for  the  facts  given. 

Chicago,  1911. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I    The  Genesis  of  the  Sunday-School       ....  3 

II     In  the  Early  Christian  Church 14 

III  Lights  in  the  Gloom 29 

IV  Robert  Raikes 47 

V    Early  Schools  in  North  America 59 

VI    The  Adoption  of  the  School  by  the  Church       .  68 

VII     Development  through  Organizations     ....  80 

VIII    The  International  Sunday  School  Association    .  91 

IX    The  Story  of  the  Lesson  System 101 

•      X    The  Period  of  Intensive  Development.      .     .     .  128 

XI    Causes  and  Factors  in  Recent  Development,      .  136 

XII    The  Evolution  op  the  Teacher 151 

XIII  The  School  for  Adults 174 

XIV  The  Sunday-School  and  Bible  Study    .     .     ...  182 
XV    The  Sunday-School  and  Libraries 193 

XVI    The  Religious  Education  Association    ....  201 

XVII    Parallel  Lines  of  Progress 212 

Questions  for  Review 220 

A  List  of  Helpful  Books  for  Further  Study     .  231 


THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE 
SUNDAY-SCHOOL 


-^ 


THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

The  Sunday-school  of  the  twentieth  century 
is  distinctly  a  modern  educational  institution. 
Yet  it  is  not  a  recent  invention.  It  is 
tial  Spirit  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  examples 
schoor"^^^'  o^  ^^^  gradual  elaboration  and  per- 
fection of  a  type  of  organization  to 
meet  certain  needs.  It  has  developed  because 
religion  has  developed.  The  school  is  the  answer 
of  the  church  to  the  fundamental  demand  for 
religious  education.  If  our  religion  means  enter- 
ing into  a  larger,  finer  life  and  the  realization  of 
a  better  social  order,  we  are  bound  not  only  to 
seek  education  but  also  to  make  education  pos- 
sible to  all  others.  We  cannot  have  the  King- 
dom until  men  learn  the  life  of  the  Kingdom; 
it  can  come  only  as  they  are  trained  in  its  ways 
and  inspired  with  its  ideals.  The  supreme  mes- 
sage of  Christianity  is  that  man  is  the  child  of 
God,  born  of  a  divine  family,  intended  to  grow 
into  the  fulness  of  divine  relationship  and  like- 
ness.    The  sublime  hope  and  essential   meaning 

3 


4      EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

of  the  religious  life  is  that  personality  may 
develop  into  a  fulness  which  we  cannot  yet 
measure.  The  great  religious  purpose  of  life 
is  personal  and  social  development.  Hence  the 
aim  of  every  religious  institution  should  be  the 
development  of  character  to  fulness  and  efficiency 
under  the  best  social  conditions. 

The  Sunday-school  is  rooted  in  this  essential 
conception  of  religion  as  a  life  of  developing 
The  First  personality.  The  first  chapter  of  Sun- 
Chapter  day-school  history  began  when  man 
turned  his  face  to  this  larger  life  and  sought 
meaning  in  a  world  greater  than  that  which  he 
could  see  and  touch.  In  its  simplest  form  the 
essential  principle  embodied  in  the  Sunday- 
school  can  therefore  be  traced  even  in  the  earliest 
records  of  the  history  of  religion.  The  savage 
gave  personality  to  all  objects.  The  trees, 
grasses,  wind,  all  in  his  thoughts  w^ere  possessed 
of  mind  or  spirit.  He  believed  in  a  great 
world  outside  himself  and  his  fellows,  the  world 
of  beings  who  caused  the  trees  to  shake  in  the 
wind  and  the  rivers  to  flow.  His  w^ise  men  were 
those  who  held  the  secret  of  this  world  of 
spirits.  Beyond  such  training  as  the  home  or 
the  clan  might  give  to  the  youth  in  the  use  of 
tools  and  the  implements  of  the  chase  the  really 
important,  practically  the  only  subjects  of  his 
instruction,  were  those  that  related  to  that  great. 


GENESIS     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL  5 

shadowy,  and  usually  dreadful  world  of  spirits. 
Such  instruction  was  more  formal  than  his  every- 
day training  in  the  family  and  the  chase,  and  so 
those  who  instructed  him  in  his  religion  were  his 
first  recognized  teachers. 

The  earliest  development  of  a  great  religion 
and  a  great  civilization  took  place  in  the  Nile 
In  Egypt  valley.  The  people  who  worked  out 
a  calendar  of  365  days  as  far  back  as 
4000  B.C.,  who  erected  the  great  tombs,  temples, 
and  pyramids,  and  who  wrote  many  books,  did 
not  neglect  education.  We  have  today  the  re- 
corded wisdom  of  their  teachers.  During  Egypt's 
greatest  splendor  the  priestly  class  was  domi- 
nant and  education  was  largely  religious  in  charac- 
ter. The  priests  were  the  teachers  and  the  temple 
schools  were  open  to  any  who  could  pay  even  a 
small  sum. 

Babylonia,  Assyria,  Phoenicia,  Persia,  and  India 
developed  religious  institutions  and  systems  of 
Assyria,       thought.     Inscriptions    on    the    rocks, 

India,  and  tablets,  monuments,  and  codes  of  law 
Cnina 

recently    discovered     tell    of     teachers 

and    schools   and   even    suggest   the   subjects  of 

study.     Their  religious    life    gave    birth   to   and 

maintained  their  educational  endeavors.     Chinese 

history    also    reveals    the   early    development    of 

religious  ideas.     Their  tradition  tells  of  schools 

as  early  as   2400  B.C.,  but  there  is   no  reliable 


6      EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

evidence  of  a  systematic  educational  movement 
before  Confucius  (550-458  B.C.).  The  system  of 
ethics  known  by  his  name  was  gathered  from 
the  ancient  reHgious  teachings.  It  became  the 
official  code  of  all  Chinese  life.  The  extensive 
imperial  educational  scheme  of  China  sought  to 
make  pupils  familiar  with  this  code.  In  recent 
years  China  has  introduced  the  Bible  into  the 
literary  studies  required  of  all  who  seek  official 
rank.  She  is  also  seeking  to  work  out  an  edu- 
cational plan  under  the  direction  of  Christian 
experts. 

With    the    Spartans    religion    was    to    live   for 
the  state.     All  the  education  of  the  youth  was 

in  hardihood  and  courage.  In  early 
\j  recce 

Athens  the  songs  of  the  poets  dealing 
with  legends  of  origins  and  with  the  deeds  of 
ancient  heroes  furnished  the  material  for  moral 
and  religious  instruction.  When  the  simple,  old 
nature-religion  no  longer  sufficed,  philosophical 
interest  developed.  Great  teachers  arose.  Socra- 
tes and  Plato  enunciated  the  educational  ideals 
recorded  in  The  Republic.  Their  teachings  and 
those  of  Aristotle  were  principally  concerned  with 
the  questions  of  morals,  with  the  right  rela- 
tions between  men.  Their  works  reveal  the  large 
place  which  practical  rigliteousness  had  in  Greek 
education. 

The  early  Roman  carried  his  faith  in  gods  and 


GENESIS     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL         7 

spirits  into  all  his  life.  Every  act  had  a  sacred 
significance,  whether  sowing  the  wheat 
or  lighting  the  fire  in  the  home.  Hence 
every  act  was  a  part  of  his  religious  education. 
But  loyalty,  patriotism,  citizenship,  were  also  relig- 
ious duties,  and  the  Roman  youth  was  specifi- 
cally taught  these  duties.  Cato  wrote  a  pamphlet 
on  How  to  Educate  Children.  Schools  were  estab- 
lished in  Rome  about  the  end  of  the  third 
century  before  Christ.  The  ideals  of  Roman 
education,  and  especially  of  moral  training,  are 
perhaps  seen  at  their  best  in  the  writings  of 
Quintilian  (a.d.  35-95).  Plutarch  in  his  Morals 
gives  many  passages  on  the  quickening  of  con- 
science and  on  moral  education. 

In  an  important  sense  all  Hebrew  religious  life 
must  be  regarded  as  educational  in  intent  and* 
Among  character.  An  educational  purpose  is 
the  Early  revealed  in  the  explanation  which  the 
writer  gives  in  the  sixth  chapter  of 
Deuteronomy  to  the  imaginary  question:  To 
what  end  are  all  these  signs,  ordinances,  sacrifices, 
and  feasts.?  (Read  Deut.  6:7-9,  19-25.)  Such 
observances,  and  particularly  such  direct  teaching 
at  parent's  knee  and  through  household  and 
social  customs,  constitute  the  finest  and  most 
effective  kind  of  religious  education.  Through- 
out the  history  of  this  people  religious  education 
began  for   the   Hebrew  child  where  it  ought  to 


8      EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

begin  for  all  children  —  that  is,  in  the  home. 
This  continued  to  be  the  case  even  when  formal 
institutions  of  learning  were  well  established. 
That  the  educational  process  was  not  wholly 
one  of  verbal  instruction  is  evident  from  such 
side-lights  as  Deuteronomy  8:5  and  from  refer- 
ences in  Proverbs  to  careful  discipline  and  to 
household  services  and  duties. 

Popular  education  took  its  rise  in  the  endeavor 
to  make  the  law  the  guiding  force  in  national  and 

social  life.  The  religious  traditions  and 
Education  literature  of  the  Jews  became  the  great 
among  the    object  of  study  in   homes   and  public 

gatherings.  The  literary  revival  which 
followed  the  exile  was  like  a  new  lease  of  life,  and 
from  it  can  be  traced  almost  all  the  later  vigorous 
educational  activity  of  Israel.  The  scribe,  the 
educator  and  interpreter  of  the  law,  was  the 
teacher  of  the  people.  Along  with  the  scribe 
the  synagogue  must  be  recognized  as  one  of  the 
Old  Testament  forerunners  of  the  Sunday -schooL 
It  is  of  importance  for  our  study  because  it  was 
not  only  the  place  at  which  the  writings  were 
read  and  expounded  on  the  Sabbath  and  at  other 
stated  occasions,  but  because  it  became  the 
local  center  of  the  educational  life  of  the  people, 
and,  in  time,  literally  the  public  schoolhouse. 
The  regular  synagogue  service  itself  was  almost 
an  exact  prototype  of   the  early  Sunday-school. 


GENESIS     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL        9 

The  service  consisted  of  the  public  recitation  of 
passages  calling  on  the  people  to  remember  the 
Law  and  the  words  of  Jehovah,  the  reading  of 
parts  of  the  Law  and  parts  of  the  Prophets,  the 
offering  of  prayer,  and  the  giving  of  a  formal 
benediction.  The  Scriptures  were  read  in  the 
ancient  tongue,  and  a  translation  into  the  popular 
dialect  given,  followed  by  a  popular  exposition.  It 
is  said  that  teachers  were  first  regularly  employed 
in  Jerusalem  about  80  B.C.,  by  Simon  Ben  She- 
tach,  called  the  father  of  systematic  education  in 
Judea.  But  many  doubts  surround  the  account 
of  his  work.  The  high  priest  Joshua  Ben  Gamla 
is  also  credited  with  a  similar  service.  At  the 
end  of  the  Roman  period  the  first  clear  evidence 
appears  of  a  fairly  well  organized,  comprehensive 
system  of  Jewish  education  in  operation,  one 
teacher  being  provided  for  each  twenty-five 
boys  in  a  village  and  an  assistant  whenever  the 
number  of  boys  reached  forty. 

In  all  these  schools  the  material  of  instruc- 
tion was  almost  exclusively  religious.  Josephus 
r»  ,.  •  boasted  of  the  training  which  Jewish 

Religious  ,  ° 

Nature  of  youth  received  in  the  Law  (Contra 
the  studies  ^p.^^^  1:12,  11:18-25).  He  also  de- 
scribed the  regular  meetings  for  hearing  and 
learning  the  law  and  gave  specific  examples  of 
incredible  verbal  accuracy  in  repeating  the  law. 
Leipziger  states  that  the  work  of  memorizing  the 


10     EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Scriptures  was  seriously  begun  with  each  child 
at  the  age  of  three;  but  the  emphasis,  in  think- 
ing of  this  period,  should  be  not  on  the  specific 
examples  of  formal  instruction  but  on  the  great 
fact  that  the  whole  life  of  the  people  was  so 
infused  with  the  spirit  of  religion  that  they  were 
impelled  to  teach  it  to  their  children.  To  them 
religion  was  not  a  part  or  a  division  or  aspect  of 
life;  it  was  so  truly  the  whole  of  life  that  education 
could  not  possibly  be  considered  apart  from  it. 

The  teaching  of  religion  in  regular  institutions 
was  fairly  well  established  by  the  time  of  Christ. 
The  Jewish  As  a  matter  of  course,  he  both  learned 
School  Ijj  ii^Q  synagogue  schools  and  himself 

taught  in  them.  Three  kinds  of  religious  schools 
were  probably  in  existence  at  this  time;  the 
elementary  village  schools,  the  synagogue  schools, 
and  the  classes  or  groups  for  higher  instruction 
meeting  under  the  direction  of  such  teachers  as 
Hillel  and  Shammai.  The  subjects  of  study  had 
not  changed  greatly  from  those  in  the  later  Old 
Testament,  at  least  in  the  elementary  and  syna- 
gogue schools.  The  pupils  were  still  drilled  in 
the  Law,  the  Mishna  or  interpretations,  and  the 
traditions  of  the  law.  If  we  may  believe  the 
rabbinical  authorities  the  curriculum  of  the  schools 
was  fairly  definitely  fixed:  from  the  age  of  five 
to  ten,  the  Law,  without  comment,  beginning 
with  Leviticus  and  taking  the  historical  portions 


GENESIS     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL      11 

later;  from  ten  to  fifteen,  the  unwritten  tradi- 
tions, the  Mishna,  the  endless  elucidations  of 
the  Law  by  the  rabbis,  the  comments  of  their 
followers,  the  comments  of  those  who  commented 
on  earlier  commentators,  the  expositions  of  ex- 
positions, in  many  cases  the  darkening  of  words 
without  knowledge.  At  fifteen  years  of  age,  the 
pupil  was  free  to  dispute  with  the  doctors  and  to 
attend  the  higher  schools. 

Conditions  were  far  from  being  ideal,  as  they 
are  sometimes  pictured.  The  groups  of  bo^^s 
sat  on  the  beaten  dirt  floor.  Only  boys  were 
present;  no  girls  were  permitted  to  receive  relig- 
ious instruction  outside  the  home.  The  teach- 
ing was,  in  at  least  the  greater  number  of  instances, 
by  rote,  largely  mechanical,  a  process  of  memo- 
rizing. 

The  ministry  of  Jesus  was  preeminently  a 
teaching  ministry.  While  John  the  Baptist  is 
Jesus  the  always  spoken  of  as  a  preacher,  Jesus 
Teacher  jg  g^jj  ^^  have  preached  and  taught. 
There  are  many  more  examples  of  his  work  as 
a  teacher  than  as  a  preacher.  The  parables 
reveal  his  supreme  skill  as  a  pedagogue.  He 
laid  emphasis  on  teaching  the  young  and  on 
personal,  practical  instruction.  He  sent  into  the 
work  a  body  of  indomitable  teachers.  Jesus 
adapted  his  method  to  the  conditions  in  which 
he   found   himself;  he   accepted   the   institutions 


12     EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

and  means  nearest  at  hand,  as  the  synagogue, 

the  street  group,  and  the  working  group.     If  the 

modern  Sunday-school  teacher  would  follow  Jesus 

here  he  will  often  be  found  walking  in  the  fields 

with  his  class;  he  will  lead  to  thoughts  of  God 

by  way  of  his  flowers  and  his  folk.     The  school 

that  follows  this  teacher  will  not  be  content  with 

weekly  meetings  for  formal  instruction,  but  play 

and  social  life,  and  even  business  and  toil  will  be 

used  as  pathways  to  higher  life. 

This  brief  survey  of  the  beginnings  in  religious 

education  suggests  three  conclusions:  First,  that 

,    .       the    imperative    need    of    training    the 
Conclusions  .    ,  . 

youth  for  useful  living  and  for  the  right 
kind  of  living  in  relation  to  others  —  either  gods 
or  men  —  compelled  all  early  peoples  to  make 
some  provision  for  education.  Second,  that  all 
early  education  was  largely  religious  because 
religion  was  not  a  separate  subject  of  study  but 
permeated  all  life.  Where  religion  was  national 
and  where  nations  were  homogeneous,  religious 
education  was  a  national  duty,  and  those  ques- 
tions which  perplex  us  as  to  the  separation  of 
public  and  religious  education  simply  did  not 
arise.  Third,  that  the  modern  conception  of 
education  as  a  social  duty,  an  obligation  which 
we  owe  to  all,  came  to  full  development  under 
Christianity.  Christianity  is  essentially  a  religion 
of  education,  it  gives  hope  for  a  larger,  better 


GENESIS     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL      13 

life  here;  it  bids  man  become  a  nobler  being;  it 
awakens  in  him  the  sense  of  his  godlike  possi- 
bilities, and  it  lays  on  every  man  the  duty  of  lead- 
ing his  fellows  into  self-realization.  It  makes  me 
my  brother's  keeper  and  therefore  responsible  for 
his  complete  development.  With  its  grand  social 
conceptions  of  a  right  world  where  peace  reigns, 
where  good-will  rules,  where  one  great  family 
lives  with  the  divine  Father  over  all,  it  lays  on 
us  the  imperative  command  to  touch  and  to  train 
every  life,  to  lead  all  to  know  the  laws  of  the 
divine  order,  and  to  acquire  by  training  and 
education,  the  habits  of  the  heavenly  family 
here  on  earth. 


II 

IN  THE  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Christianity  began  and  spread  by  teaching. 
A  missionary  religion  must  teach.  The  method 
Church  of  the  apostles  was  essentially  the 
Leaders  method  of  the  Great  Teacher.  Paul 
in  his  hired  house  at  Rome  spent  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  instructing  groups  of  inquirers  and 
individuals  who  came  to  him.  He  conducted 
a  school  of  the  new  faith  which  met  every  day 
and  at  all  hours.  Other  passages  give  very  clear 
pictures  of  the  early  Christians  meeting  frequently, 
usually  in  the  house  of  one  of  their  number,  and 
spending  the  time  in  talking  over  the  new  faith 
and  in  worship.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  such  meet- 
ings were  really  schools,  and  that,  either  in  them 
or  by  other  means,  the  youth  were  gathered  in 
groups  for  definite  instruction.  The  early  leaders 
of  the  churches  quickly  recognized  the  importance 
of  training  the  young  in  religious  knowledge.  The 
Church  Fathers,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  have 
much  to  say  regarding  the  teaching  of  children. 
The  absence  of  descriptions  of  special  institutions 

U 


EARLY     CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  15 

for  this  work  occasions  no  surprise,  for  this  was 
tiie  period  when  the  new  hfe  had  not  yet  formed 
for  itself  institutional  channels;  it  was  adapting 
itself  also  to  great  political  changes  and  to  a  new 
world  order. 

It  would  be  futile  to  attempt  to  prove  that  the 
early  Christians  had  formal  institutions,  under 
Three  Lines  the  care  of  the  churches,  which  corre- 
of  Descent  sponded  to  our  Sunday-schools.  The 
pedigree  of  the  Sunday-school  is  to  be  traced  in 
principles  rather  than  in  institutions.  It  is  seen 
in  the  practical  expression  of  the  principle  of  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  young.  Early  Chris- 
tianity made  provision  for  this  instruction  in 
at  least  three  ways:  (1)  in^  the  home,  (2)  in  the 
synagogue  schools,  and  (3)  in  the  catechetical 
schoolsTTJ'one  of  the  plans  was  new.  Each  was 
the  continuance  and  natural  development  of 
methods  which  had  been  used  among  the  Jews. 
Gentiles  would  find  them  at  first  not  greatly 
different  from  customs  with  which  they  were 
familiar. 

The    New    Testament    gives    glimpses    of    the 
religious  life  in  the  home.     Timothy  was  by  no 
In  Jewish     means    the    only    youth    instructed    in, 
Homes         ^-j^^    Scriptures    from    early    childhood.! 
In   Jewish    homes   the   obligation   to   repeat   the  I 
words  of  the  law  was  still  recognized.     All    the 
ancient  lore,  the  hero  stories,  and    the  literary 


16  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

and  historical  instruction  of  the  child  by  father 
and  by  mother  were  religious  in  character  and 
subject.  Despite  the  development  of  tradition- 
alism among  the  professional  religious  leaders, 
the  life  of  the  people  was  for  the  most  part 
genuinely  religious.  Besides  direct  teaching  in 
the  home  the  domestic  religious  customs  and 
observances  were  of  great  pedagogic  value.  In 
homes  that  remained  Jewish  in  faith  the  fasts 
and  the  feasts  were  observed  and  diligent  efforts 
were  made  to  instruct  the  children  regarding  their 
meaning.  Such  homes  kept  alive  the  ardor  of 
the  old  faith  and  made  the  glorious  past  real  to 
youth.  In  families  that  became  Christian  there 
-was  no  immediate  break  with  old  customs.  Even 
when  the  observances  ceased  it  was  necessary  to 
explain  their  ancient  meaning.  The  reading  or 
at  least  the  repetition  and  memorizing  of  the 
Old  Testament  passages  continued  in  both  kinds 
of  homes.  The  Jewish  heritage  was  the  heritage 
of  all  and  they  gloried  in  it. 

In  the  Jewish-Christian  home  the  child  received 
instruction  in  Christian  facts  and  ideals  in  the 
,  most  effective  manner.  The  wonder  of 
Christian  the  new  faith  made  it  the  all-absorb- 
Homes  .^^  subject  of  conversation.  All  life 
centered  about  it.  They  learned  to  know  Chris- 
tian history  and  teaching  as  children  in  American 
homes  in  the  years  1860-1806  learned  to  know  the 


EARLY      CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  17 

history  of  the  Civil  War.  This  was  equally  true 
in  Gentile  Christian  homes,  for  they  were  equally 
near  to  and  interested  in  the  events. 

Religious   teaching   was   not   neglected   in   the 
pagan    home.     The    Greeks    and    the    Romans 
Gentile        loved    their    children.     We    must    not 
Homes         judge  hastily  from  a  few  shocking  ex- 
amples; not    all    Roman    fathers    exposed    their 
children  to  die  or  even  desired  to  do  so.     In  the 
later  period  of  the  Roman  Empire  corruption  and 
luxury  undermined  the  homes  of  the  upper  classes 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  fall  of  the  empire. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  century  the  wealthy  left 
the  instruction  of  children  to  nurses  and  slaves. 
But  such  homes  were  no  more  typical  than  are 
similar  ones  in  this  country  today.     Quintilian, 
who   lived   35   to   95  a.d.,   pleads  for   the   early 
instruction    of    the    child.     He    emphasizes    the 
duty  of  moral  training.     He  says  that  instruction 
should  begin  in  the  cradle,  "as  soon  as  a  son  is 
born."     "Let  us  not  lose  even  the  earliest  period 
of  life."     He  reminds  us  of  Plato  and  Socrates: 
"Beginning  is  the  chief  est  part,  especially  in  a 
young  and  tender  thing."     The  special  teachings 
of  Jesus  on  the  value  of  the  little  child  and  his 
place  in  the  kingdom  led  the  Gentile  Christians 
to  set  a  new  value  on  elementary  education. 

The   life   of   the   home   flowed   into   the  early 
Christian    meetings.     Frequently    the    converts 


18   EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

gathered  in  homes.  Congregations  were  designated 
by  the  home  at  which  they  usually  met.  Agree- 
The  Family  able  to  Jewish  custom,  it  was  expected 
at  Meeting   ^^^^^  ^j^^  whole  household  would  follow 

the  parents  in  alle^k^nce  to  the  new  faith.  There 
was  definite  consciousness  of  family  relation  to 
that  faith.  The  children  went  often  with  their 
parents  to  the  gatherings.  Little  groups  of 
families  wended  their  way  to  their  m.eeting- 
places.  They  came  at  first  openly  and  later 
secretly  for  fear  of  persecution.  Meeting  in 
houses,  barns,  deserted  quarries,  under  the  stars, 
in  the  catacombs,  at  any  place  where  in  the  zeal 
of  this  new  faith  men  and  women  might  con- 
gregate, the  hymn  of  praise  arose,  copies  of  the 
letters  of  the  apostle  were  read  again  and  again, 
and  one  and  another  asked  questions  or  told  of 
his  experience  or  hope.  How  eagerly  the  little 
children,  standing  by  their  parents,  listened  to 
all  that  was  said,  and  with  what  interest  they 
inquired  further  concerning  those  wonderful 
stories ! 

The  early  meetings  were  informal  in  character. 
They  corresponded  more  closely  to  a  large  mixed 
Church  Sunday-school  class  than  to  a  modern 
Service  5  church  service.  The  utmost  freedom 
of  action  prevailed.  Questions  were  both  asked 
and  answered  by  the  audience.  The  preacher 
was  really  the  leader  of  the  class.     One  writer 


EARLY     CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  19 

on  early  Christian  preaching,  Paniel,  designates 
these  services  as  "a  mode  of  instruction  which 
arose    from    the    familiar    interplay    of    inquiry 
among  the  members  of  the   congregation."  ^     He 
goes  on  to  describe  the  preacher  as  depending  on 
the  questions  and  answers  of  the  congregation  for 
guidance  in  his  words.     This  was  indeed  a  peda- 
gogical  method;  the  teacher  discovered  the  con- 
tent^f  the  pupils'  minds  before  attempting  to 
teach.     There    are    in    existence    "homilies,"    as 
they  were  called,  free  transcripts  of  the  remarks 
made  on  both  sides  in  these  interlocutory  services. 
The    narratives    and    accounts    of   the    addresses 
made  by  Paul  and  others  show  that  this  method 
was     common    with     them.     The     congregation 
regarded  itself  somewhat  as  a  class;  they  were 
not  listening  to  a  formal  lecture,  still  less  to  a 
sermon;  they  were  at  liberty  to  ask  questions,  to 
assent   and   even   dissent   from   what   was   being 
said.     It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  church, 
even  in  its  public  services,  once  gathered  more 
as  a  class  than  as  an  audience,  and  that  those 
early    meetings    were    efficient   educationally   for 
both  young  and  old. 

It  is  important  to  keep  in  mind  the  fact  of  the 
close  connection  between  the  old  and  the  new  in 

1  Paniel,  Karl  F.  W.,  in  Pragmaiische  Geschichte  der  Christlichen 
Beredsamkeit  (Leipsic,  1839),  quoted  by  Trumbull,  in  Yale  Lec- 
tures on  Sunday-Scfiools,  p.  53. 


20  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

the  beginnings  of  Christian  history.  There  was 
no  sudden  break.  In  the  early  days  a  family 
N  Ne  d  converted  to  Christianity  from  Judaism 
of  New  would  make  few  changes  in  its  customs. 
They  would  go  to  the  synagogue 
and  the  children  went  to  the  synagogue  school. 
In  fact,  Christian  teachers  taught  in  the  syna- 
gogues in  many  places.  There  were  no  new 
formal  organizations  for  school  purposes.  The 
customs  already  in  use  met  all  needs.  The  early 
Christian  church  consisted  so  largely  of  Jews, 
who  continued  the  instruction  of  their  children 
by  reading  and  study  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  also  of  those  who  were  largely  influenced 
by  such  Jewish  customs,  that  it  is  not  strange 
that  nothing  is  heard  of  special  institutions  for 
Christian  instruction.  The  old  ways  sufficed 
for  both  Jews  and  Christians  until  persecution 
drove  the  latter  from  the  synagogues. 

The  synagogue  schools  were  to  be  found  al- 
most everywhere  through  the  Roman  world. 
Synagogue  Borne  along  by  their  recently  awakened 
Schools  commercial  spirit  the  Jews  had  gone 
everywhere,  and  in  all  places  had  established 
their  meeting  houses.  Wherever  Jews  lived  they 
maintained  their  daily  schools  for  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  young.  Jewish  Christians 
sent  their  children  to  these  schools.  All  the 
early  letters  assume  the  familiarity  of  the  people 


EARLY     CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  21 

with  the  facts  of  Hebrew  history.     In  the  first 

century    for    the    greater    number    of    Christians 

the     Sunday-school     met     every    day     of     the 

week. 

By  the  end  of  the  first  century  the  Christians 

were  recognizing  the  need  for  special  institutions 

T>    .    .        for    the    instruction    of    their   children, 
liegmning 

of  New        The    growing    hostility    of    the    Jews, 

Schools  1  •  I  ■  .•  1    xi 

bitter  persecution,  and  the  conscious- 
ness that  the  new  faith  was  wholly  separate  from 
any  other  emphasized  the  necessity  of  distinct 
Christian  schools.  They  developed  under  at 
least  two  influences:  (1)  the  usage  of  the  syna- 
gogue schools  and  (2)  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
new  leaders  in  the  life  of  the  church  were  scholas- 
tics, trained  in  the  Greek  schools.  The  early 
Fathers  did  not  repudiate  learning.  They  ac- 
knowledged their  indebtedness  to  the  higher 
schools  of  the  pagan  world.  They  sought  all 
the  essential  advantages  of  that  culture  for  those 
who  were  to  do  responsible  work  in  the  churches. ^ 
Perhaps  the  schools  for  children  grew  up  around 
the  groups  of  men  gathered  for  higher  education 
under  Christian  auspices  or  being  trained  for 
religious  services.  It  is  possible  that  parents 
demanded  of  these  teachers  that  they  should 
continue  for  their  children  the  work  of  the  masters 
in  the  synagogue  schools. 

^  See  Primitive  Christian  Education,  G.  Hodgson. 


22     EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

The  earliest  regular  school  for  Christian  teach- 
ing of  which  there  is  clear  evidence  was  at  Alex- 
andria.    That  ancient  city  was  in  many 
Alexandria  ^  '^ 

ways  the  natural  center  lor  such  a 
beginning.  It  had  a  glorious  intellectual  past. 
It  was  the  home  of  a  very  large  Christian 
community,  quite  different  in  culture  and  think- 
ing from  those  in  Judea.  Intellectually,  the 
Alexandrians  were  Greek  Christians.  They  saw 
Christianity  in  the  light  of  Greek  philosophy  and 
interpreted  the  one  by  the  other.  They  were 
prepared  to  recognize  the  advantage  of  new 
schools  and  of  definite  forms  of  instruction.  Alex- 
andria had  long  been  the  home  of  scholars  and  a 
city  of  schools.  The  origin  of  the  Alexandrian 
school  is  uncertain.  We  are  indebted  to  Jerome 
for  almost  all  our  information.  At  first  it  was  a 
school  for  adults,  a  theological  seminary.  Prob- 
ably there  were  gatherings  of  Christian  thinkers, 
philosophers,  and  teachers  in  that  city  of  learning 
early  in  the  second  century.  One  hundred  years 
later,  a.d.  203,  we  know  that  this  school  gave  the 
child  his  rightful  place.  At  the  age  of  eighteen, 
Origen  (a.d.  185-254),  a  student  in  this  theo- 
logical seminary,  went  out  into  the  city  of  Alex- 
andria and  gathered  the  children  from  the  many 
churches.  He  organized  them  into  groups  for 
instruction.  Before  long  the  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria   very    properly    appointed    him    head    of 


EARLY     CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  23 

these  schools  for  children.  They  were  called 
catechetical  schools.  The  new  work  compelled 
Origen  to  give  up  his  secular  teaching.  He 
refused  pay  for  religious  teaching  and,  in  order 
that  he  might  not  starve,  4ie  sold  his  library  for 
an  annuity  of  a  little  over  ten  cents  a  day. 

The  catechetical  schools  were  for  those  who 
were  to  be  admitted  to  the  church.  The  pupils 
Catechetical  were  instructed  with  great  care  in  the 
Schools  doctrines    of   the   church    and   in    the 

history  of  their  faith.  All  candidates  received 
the  instruction,  so  that  the  schools  included 
adults  as  well  as  children.  But  Origen 's  primary 
interest  was  in  the  children.  The  name  "cate- 
chetical schools"  must  not  mislead  us  into  think- 
ing of  them  as  existing  to  teach  some  formal 
catechism.  It  refers  rather  to  the  fact  that  the 
instruction  was  exceedingly  careful,  systematic, 
and  graded  according  to  the  development  of  the 
pupil  and  his  progress  toward  full  admission  into 
the  church. 

These  early  schools  probably  included  a  large  -r 
proportion  of  the  Christians  in  their  communities.  ^ 

-,     ,  ,.        The  students  were  divided  into  at  least 

Gradation 

four  grades  or  stages  of  instruction. 
The  first  grade  was  composed  of  those  who  were 
simply  inquirers,  receiving  instruction  in  small 
classes.  These  included  the  younger  children 
as  well  as  the  new  converts.     The  second  grade 


24     EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

was  called  that  of  the  "hearers."  They  had  no 
part  whatever  in  the  services  of  worship  in  the 
church  except  as  listeners.  They  left  the  church 
when  the  sermon  and  Scripture  reading  was  ended. 
It  is  probable  that  they  then  retired  to  classes 
in  the  corridors  or  outside  the  church.  The 
third  grade  was  that  of  the  "worshipers,"  who 
had  a  part  in  the  prayers  and  ceremonies  of  the 
church.  The  fourth  division  corresponded  to 
the  graduate  classes,  the  "electi,"  who  were 
ready  for  baptism.  Unfortunately,  many  pre- 
ferred to  remain  in  this  last  class  until  death  drew 
near,  so  that  baptism  might  confer  on  them  the 
supposed  benefits  of  a  final  unction. 

The  young  were  instructed  in  this  manner 
not  only  in  Alexandria  but  in  the  churches  through- 
The  Church  out  Gentile  Christendom.  Christian 
as  a  School  tradition  supports  this  statement.  Chris- 
tian art  shows  the  children  being  prepared.  Many 
incidental  allusions  establish  the  fact  that  in  the 
churches  outside  of  Judea  there  were  always 
classes  for  the  training  of  the  young  in  the  relig- 
ious life.  If,  as  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers 
shows,  the  method  of  question  and  answer  was 
used  to  train  the  heathen  for  church  membership, 
it  is  not  likely  that  the  church  would  fail  to  use 
this  method  to  bring  all  her  children  into  that 
relation.  The  architectural  form  of  many  ancient 
churches  indicates  special  provision  for  purposes 


EARLY     CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  25 

of  instruction.  Many  edifices  were  arranged  so 
that  it  would  be  possible  for  the  first  two  grades 
to  leave  the  congregation  and  quickly  go  to  the 
colonnades  and  there  assemble  in  classes. 

From  all  the  allusions  to  these  schools  we  can 

gather:    (1)   that   the   students    were   principally 

those  who  were  preparing  for  admission 

one  usions  ^^  ^^^^  church,   although  many  others 

who  needed  this  instruction  were  included;  (2) 
that  the  course  of  study  was  roughly  graded  and 
covered  from  two  to  four  years;  (3)  that  the 
subjects  included  sacred  history,  Jewish  customs, 
memorizing  the  Scriptures,  the  great  Christian 
doctrines,  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus;  (4)  that 
the  method  of  teaching  was  in  classes,  often  by 
laymen  and  women  and  by  students;  (5)  that 
the  text-book  material  included  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  religious  poems  (possibly  the 
forerunners  of  some  of  the  ancient  hymns),  and 
in  time  some  of  the  letters  and  other  material 
of  the  New  Testament.  If  the  churches  had 
continued  to  recognize  the  importance  of  train- 
ing the  young,  had  adopted  suitable  methods  as 
they  arose,  and  had  paid  as  much  attention  thereto 
as  the  influential  leaders  did  in  the  third  and 
fourth  centuries  we  might  have  had  a  different 
tale  to  tell  today. 

Side  by  side  with  the  catechetical  schools,  an 
extensive  system  of  general  education  gradually 


26     EVOLUTION     OF     SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

grew  up  under  the  care  of  the  churches.  These 
schools  were  not  only  religious  in  character  but  on 
General  a  religious  basis,  with  religious  subjects 
Education  g^g  ^i^q  principal  elements  in  the  curricu- 
lum. Such  a  remarkable  development  of  early 
education  took  place  under  the  fostering  care  of 
Christianity,  that  the  Emperor  Julian,  at  the 
time  of  the  pagan  reaction  against  Christianity, 
recognized  its  importance  by  issuing  the  famous 
decree  taking  education  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Christians  and  the  churches  and  placing  it  under 
the  direction  of  the  Roman  state. 

The  school  at  Alexandria  is  best  known  in  its 
wider  sphere  of  general  theological  education.  It 
^^^  has  been  called  the  fountain  of  theo- 

Theological  logical  education,  for  here  was  gradually 
developed  an  institution  which  trained 
many  distinguished  men  for  religious  services. 
Clement  (160-215  a.d.)  was  one  of  the  pupils 
at  this  seminary,  and  so  was  his  disciple 
Origen.  We  are  indebted  to  Jerome  for  the 
picture  of  Origen,  the  theological  student  of 
eighteen  years  of  age,  going  through  Alexandria, 
organizing  children  into  classes  and  instructing 
them.  The  theological  seminary  of  that  day 
was  using  the  laboratory  method  which  the 
seminary  of  this  day  is  again  beginning  to  adopt. 
Origen  was  the  forerunner  of  the  young  man  or 
woman  training  for  Christian  service  who  learns 


EARLY     CHRISTIAN     CHURCH  27 

by  doing,  who  meets  the  real  and  practical  prob- 
lems of  religious  education  while  in  preparation 
for  that  work,  and  who  puts  into  present  practice 
the  instruction  received  in  the  class  room.  Clem- 
ent left  many  interesting  works.  Perhaps  the 
most  illuminating  are  his  Pedagogue  and  his 
Address  to  the  Greeks.  These  show  both  the 
system  used  in  the  Christian  schools  and  the 
content  of  the  teaching.  The  Pedagogue  states 
that  the  teaching  included  not  only  the  Scriptures 
and  theology,  but  such  practical  matters  as 
hygiene,  dress,  manners,  and  everyday  morals. 
Those  early  teachers  regarded  their  work  with 
the  young  as  broader  than  instruction  in  the 
facts  of  biblical  history.  They  sought  to  train 
for  the  whole  of  the  religious  life. 

The  most  notable  large  schools  in  Christendom, 
besides  Alexandria,  were  those  at  Jerusalem  and 

Antioch.     These  were  more  like  theo- 
Extension     ,      .     ,  .        .  i     ^     xi  u 

logical    seminaries,    but    they    became 

centers  for  the  many  elementary  schools  in  con- 
nection with  the  churches.  For  two  or  three 
hundred  years  the  school  for  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  youth  continued  to  be  a  part  of  the  church. 
Through  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt  there  were  many 
such  schools.  When  Gregory  the  Illuminator  be- 
gan to  evangelize  Armenia  he  established  a  system 
of  schools  throughout  all  his  field  and  required 
attendance  at  them. 


28  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

The  catechetical  schools  show  that  Christianity 
was  not  merely  the  friend  "but  also  the  mother 
.  .  of  education  in  the  modern  sense, 
an"^  lani  y  rpj^^^  prove  that  the  Christian  church 
Education  ^^^  ^^le  school  are  inseparable  in  spirit 
and  essential  the  one  to  the  other.  They  indicate 
that  the  church  early  recognized  the  educational 
method  in  the  development  of  the  religious  life. 
They  are  prophetic  of  the  Sunday-school,  which 
has  only  recently  been  recognized  as  an  essential 
part  of  every  modern  church.  They  suggest 
emphatically  that  when  Christianity  had  all  the 
vigor  and  freshness  of  a  new  life  in  the  world  and 
when  it  had  to  meet  its  most  serious  organized, 
racial,  and  political  opposition,  its  leaders  de- 
pended largely  on  educational  processes,  its  ranks 
were  recruited,  and  its  own  people  saved  to 
itself  by  Christian  nurture. 


Ill 

LIGHTS  IN  THE  GLOOM 

The  story  of  religious  education  during  the 
medieval  period  is  quite  inseparable  from  the 
history  of  general  education.  All  education  was 
conducted  by  religious  agencies.  The  subjects 
of  study  were  naturally  religious.  The  activities 
of  education  centered  in  the  cities  about  the 
cathedrals  and  great  churches  and  in  other  places 
about  the  monasteries.  There  was  no  general, 
comprehensive  scheme  of  education  for  the  peo- 
ple. For  a  long  time  the  church  looked  with 
suspicion  on  attempts  to  extend  learning  beyond 
the  monks  and  the  clergy.  Many  of  the  latter, 
especially  those  engaged  in  parish  duties,  were 
sadly  ignorant.  In  the  monasteries  classic  learn- 
ing was  preserved;  in  some  instances  the  monks 
took  pains  to  teach  some  of  the  poor. 

In  782  Charlemagne  called  Alcuin,  a  monk  of 
York,  England,  to  direct  the  organization  of 
Charle-  education  in  the  Empire.  He  called 
°^^sne  attention  to  the  ignorance  of  the  clergy. 
But  he  also  established  village  schools,  which  were 
taught  by  the  priests  and  were  open  to  all, 

29 


30  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Alcuin  came  to  the  court  of  Charlemagne  from 
scenes  of  religious  interest  in  education  in  Eng- 
Education  in  land.     There  schools  had  already  been 
England         established   which    were    intended    for 
those    outside    the    clergy.     These,    which    were 
the    mothers    of    the    great    universities    of    our 
day,  were  all  religious  schools.     Canterbury  was 
originally  a  school  attached  to  a  monastery.     In 
the  seventh  century  it  was  made  famous  by  the 
teaching  of  Theodore  and  later  by  that  of  the 
abbot     Hadrian.     Then     classical     studies     were 
added    to    the    theological    and     biblical.     The 
great  school  at  York  was  founded  on  the  same 
basis  in  the  next  century.     (See  A  History  of  the 
Church  of  England,  Patterson,  p.  29.)     The  school 
at  Jarrow  won  fame  through   the  work  of  "the 
Venerable   Bede,"   and   his   pupil   Egbert,   after- 
wards   Archbishop    of    York,    founded    the    cele- 
brated school  in  his  own  city.     Alfred  the  Great 
of  England,  lamenting  the  decline  of  religion  in 
his    kingdom  —  saying    there    was    not    a    single 
priest   in   the   country   south   of   the   Thames  — 
sought  a  remedy  in  education.     He  established 
a  school  at  his  court  for  the  sons  of  the  nobility 
and  urged  that  all  the  freeborn  youth  of  the  land 
be  taught  the  rudiments  of  English  and  Latin. 
He  established  additional  monasteries  with  schools 
and  sent  abroad  for  religious  teachers  for  them 
and  for  the  schools  at  the  older  institutions.     After 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  31 

the  invasion  by  the  Danes  many  of  the  monastery 
schools  were  restored  by  the  Benedictine  monks. 

The  rise  of  the  great  universities  contributed 
to  important  changes.  These  universities,  quite 
different  from  our  modern  institutions,  were 
really  free  associations  of  students  grouping 
themselves  about  great  and  attractive  teachers. 
The  first  was  at  Salerno,  near  Naples. 

The  University  of  Paris,  the  mother  of  modern 
liberal  culture,  took  its  rise  in  the  fact  that  such 
The  teachers  as  Roscellinus,  Peter  Abelard    / 

Universities  ^^^  William  of  Champeaux  lectured 
and  reasoned  in  Paris  and  drew  about  them 
inquiring  minds  from  all  over  Europe.  Large 
numbers  of  young  men,  anxious  to  pursue  the 
studies  they  had  begun  independently  in  religion 
and  philosophy,  came  to  these  teachers.  They 
met  in  open  spaces,  in  hired  rooms,  or  wherever 
they  could.  They  paid  their  instructors  just  as, 
for  example,  the  Jewish  seekers  after  knowledge 
paid  Hillel.  Emerton  says:  "It  is  in  these  early 
efforts  of  the  human  mind  to  work  out,  in  what 
seemed  a  scientific  fashion,  the  great  problems  of 
faith  and  thought,  that  we  find  the  beginnings  of 
modern,  systematic,  higher  education."  ^ 

While  men  hungry  for  religious  and  philosoph- 
ical truth  were  flocking  to  the  university  cities, , 
to  Paris,  Cologne,  Bologna,   and   Florence,    how 

^  Einerton,  Mediaeval  Europe,  p.  452. 


32  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

were  the  laymen,  the  common  people,  the  parents 
and  children  in  the  country  and  the  villages  faring 
Among  the  for  religious  knowledge?  They  were 
People  j^Qj.  wholly  destitute  of  such  knowledge, 
and  yet  how  was  it  circulated?  The  common 
statement  that  the  people  lay  in  absolute  ignorance 
is  unsatisfactory,  for  out  of  that  mass  of  igno- 
rance rose  many  fair  and  illuminating  lives.  The 
saints  of  the  church  in  that  period  are  not  to  be 
dismissed  as  humbugs  or  as  weak  and  impossible 
characters.  Somehow  they  found  food  for  the 
higher  life.  Religion  was  taught  even  in  the 
darkest  days.  Although  all  regular  church  ser- 
vices were  conducted  in  Latin  and  all  preaching 
was  in  that  tongue,  there  was  much  intercourse 
between  priest  and  people,  while  the  monks  and 
traveling  friars  constantly  conversed  with  the 
village  folk.  Many  records  exist  of  story-telling 
by  these  travelers  and  of  popular  paraphrasing 
of  the  Gospel  narratives,  as  well  as  of  several 
quaint  attempts  at  the  presentation  of  religious 
truths  by  means  of  crude  parables  suited  to  the 
uneducated  mind. 

One  effective  means  of  popularizing  religious 
knowledge  was  used  by  the  class  of  men  known 
Wandering  as  "wandering  scholars."  Almost  any 
Scholars  student  at  the  university  cities  was 
likely  to  be  a  wanderer,  going  from  one  famous 
teacher   in   this   city  to   another   in   that.     Like 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  33 

the  Hindu  story-tellers  and  learned  men,  they 
often  gathered  the  village  folk  about  them  and, 
in  return  for  hospitality,  told  in  simple  terms 
what  they  had  seen  and  heard.  Their  lives  may 
have  been  not  ideal,  but  their  teaching  was  still 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  for  at  this  time  "the 
Christian  religion  had  become  the  leading  sub- 
ject of  men's  thoughts,  and  divines  had  put  forth 
its  claims  to  be  —  a  Philosophy  in  the  widest 
sense  in  which  the  term  is  used."  ^ 

The     wandering    friars     popularized     religious 
education  in  the  thirteenth  century.     The  Francis-  ^' 
The  Wan-     cans,  Dominicans,  and  other  orders  were 
denng Friars  fj.^g  to  go  anywhere,  as  "pilgrims  and 

strangers,"   on   works  of  mercy.     They  mingled 

freely  with  the  people  and  taught  them.     Their 

liberty   permitted    the   development   of   a   much 

more  liberal  culture  than  was  found  in  the  monastic 

orders. 

One  other  influence  must  be  mentioned  briefly, 

the  reform  of  the  monasteries  under  the  leader- 

^    .      ship  of  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  and  other  "' 
Monasteries         ^  i         mi  ... 

great  souls.  These  institutions,  once 
repositories  of  learning  and  active  in  the  religious 
education  of  the  young  had,  in  many  places, 
become  nests  of  vice  and  luxury.  But  Bernard 
founded  his  great  school  and  his  associates,  with 
their  intense  devotion  and  mysticism,  secured  a 

*  Whewell,  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences. 


/ 


34   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

large  measure  of  reform  in  the  monasteries  so  that 
many  became  efficient  teaching  agencies. 

Gerard  Groot  (1340-1384)  founded  an  order 
of  evangehsts  of  unusual  religious  zeal  known  as 
T,    ,,         r    the    Brethren    of   the    Common   Life. 

Brethren  of 

the  Common  They  established  houses  of  devotion  in 

which  converts  lived  under  monastic 
conditions,  but  in  a  manner  intended  as  a  protest 
against  the  laxities  common  in  monasteries. 
These  devout  and  industrious  lay  communities 
met  w^ith  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  friars  who 
were  living  in  luxury  and  sloth.  The  new  houses 
soon  became  teaching  centers.  Very  early  many 
boys  were  attracted  and  received  religious  in- 
struction. At  some  of  the  schools  more  than  a 
thousand  boys  were  in  attendance.  Many  of  these 
also  went  to  other  schools  for  secular  learning. 
Thomas  a  Kempis  was  one  of  their  students. 
These  schools  took  rank  with  the  best  educational 
institutions  of  the  age,  and  this  body  of  learned 
and  godly  men,  engaged  in  teaching  religion  to  the 
youth,  played  no  small  part  in  preparing  the  way 
for  the  new  day  in  Germany. 

In  the  counter-reformation  the  schools  of  the 
Brethren  came  under  the  control  of  the  Jesuits; 
but  they  had  done  their  splendid  work.  (See  the 
Encyclopaedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  Vol.  II, 
and  also  lives  of  Groot  and  Florentius.) 

In  England,  during  the  latter  medieval  period. 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  35 

the  education  of  youth  passed  very  largely  from 
the  monasteries.  But  it  did  not  pass  from 
Parish  under  religious  auspices;  the  church 
Schools        ^^g  g|-iii  ^]^Q  great  educational  agency. 

The  parish  priests  conducted  various  kinds  of 
elementary  schools.  Some  were  parochial  schools 
of  considerable  dignity;  others  were  simply  little 
gatherings  of  children  to  gain  such  learning  as  the 
priest  might  be  able  to  impart.  The  instruction 
was  almost  wholly  religious,  or  at  least  biblical 
and  doctrinal.  Even  the  study  of  languages 
centered  about  the  religious  writings. 

The  schools  of  more  advanced  grade,  as  "gram- 
mar schools,"  were  usually  attached  to  the  abbeys," 
Grammar  to  cathedrals,  or  to  churches.  The 
Schools  great  schools  were  at  Winchester  and 
Eton.  The  former  was  founded  by  William  of 
Wykeham  in  1378  for  the  education  of  youth  for 
religious  service.  Like  the  other  great  English 
schools,  it  was  intended  for  the  "commoners" 
and  for  poor  boys  as  well  as  for  the  nobility  who, 
in  later  years,  practically  usurped  the  privileges 
of  the  other  classes.  Eton  was  founded  by  Henry 
VI  in  the  next  century. 

Erasmus,  born  in  Rotterdam  in  1467,  was  one 
of  the  finest  scholars  of  his  time  and  one  of  the 

educational  beacon  lights  of  the  new 
Erasmus  ,      ,  , 

age.  He  wrote  a  great  deal  on  educa- 
tion.    He  held  that  religious  nurture  was  of  first 


36       EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

importance.  He  was  wise  enough  to  see  that  the 
most  important  consideration  of  all  was  not  the 
amount  of  information  regarding  religious  history 
or  literature  which  the  child  might  receive,  but 
the  impressions,  ideals,  and  examples  which  were 
given  to  him. 

The  great  German  reformer,  Luther,  stood  for 
the  open  way  to  God,  the  way  made  free  from 
stumbling  blocks  set  up  by  ecclesias- 
ticism.     But  men  must  be  taught  the 
way.     In   the  year   1524,   the  year  in  which  he 
published    his    First    German    Hymn    Book,    he 
prepared  his  first  catechism  for  children.     Some- 
where about  this  time  he  began  to  call  attention 
to    the    need    for    the    religious    instruction    of 
children.     He   saw   that   the   young  must   learn 
the  Scriptures,  if  ever  religious  truth  was  to    be 
a  common  possession  of  the  people.     Accordingly, 
as  D'Aubigne  says,  he  made  this  one  of  the  objects 
of  his  life.     Under  their  civic  conditions  students 
could  be  taught  the  Scriptures  in  the  day  schools. 
Therefore  he  began  to  stimulate  public  opinion 
to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  general  elemen- 
tary   education.      He    sent    an    address    to    the 
councilors  of  the  German  cities:   "Dear  sirs;   we 
annually  spend   so   much  on  arquebuses,   roads, 
and  dikes,  why  should  we  not  spend  a  little  to 
give  one  or  two  schoolmasters  to  our  poor  chil- 
dren.    Forget  not  the  poor  youth.     The  strength 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  37 

of  a  city  does  not  consist  in  the  number  of  its 
towers  and  buildings,  but  in  counting  a  great 
number  of  learned,  serious,  and  well-educated 
citizens."  Again,  "For  the  church's  sake  Chris- 
tian schools  must  be  established  and  maintained." 
"Is  it  not  reasonable,"  he  asks,  "that  every 
Christian  should  know  the  Gospels  at  the  age  of 
nine  or  ten?"  "In  schools  of  all  kinds  the  chief 
and  most  common  lessons  should  be  the  Scrip- 
tures." The  Reformer's  recommendation  for  scrip- 
tural teaching  in  all  schools  would  be  feasible 
then  in  Germany,  as  it  would  not  be  today  in 
America.  Luther  also  did  tremendous  service 
for  religious  education  in  translating  the  Bible 
into  his  own  tongue.  Even  in  that  day  a  half 
million  copies  went  into  circulation  in  a  very 
short  time.  Some  of  the  other  educational  ideals 
of  Luther  included  domestic  religious  training, 
vocational  training,  particularly  in  home  duties 
and  in  trades,  free  libraries,  and  teacher  training. 
(See  D'Aubigne,  and  Painter's  History  of  Educa- 
tion; also  Graves,  A  History  of  Education,  Vol. 
11.) 

Francis  Xavier  (1506-1552),  the  disciple  of 
Ignatius  Loyola,  is  known  for  his  splendid  mis- 
^^  .  sionary  zeal;  but  he  also  corrected  one 

error  of  the  Jesuit  schools,  their  neglect 
of  children.  He  is  credited  with  the  saying,  "  Give 
me  the  children  until  they  are  seven  and  I  care 


38   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

not  who  has  them  after."  He  went  through  the 
streets  of  the  cities  of  India  ringing  a  bell  and 
calling  on  the  people  to  send  all  the  little  children 
to  him  for  instruction  in  religion. 

Carlo  Borromeo,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  has 
become  a  familiar  name,  though  still  an  indefinite 
figure,  in  Sunday-school  history.  He 
was  the  nephew  of  Pope  Pius  IV,  a 
man  of  unusually  high  character  and  wisdom. 
In  1579  he  organized  the  Collegium  Helveticum, 
for  the  free  education  of  Swiss  young  men  for 
the  priesthood.  At  the  same  time  he  was  deeply 
interested  in  the  religious  education  of  the  young. 
Agreeable  to  the  mandates  of  church  councils, 
he  gathered  the  children  at  the  cathedral  and  at 
its  chapels.  He  also  ordered  that  the  same  plans 
should  be  followed  in  all  the  churches  under  his 
care.  He  caused  the  children  to  be  gathered  in 
'  separate  small  classes,  the  girls  and  the  boys  being 
divided  for  religious  instruction.  Over  each  class 
was  a  minister  or  teacher.  They  met  every 
Sunday  for  study  and  recitation  in  the  catechisms. 
Beside  the  priests  in  charge  of  the  classes  there 
were  other  lay  assistants,  while  for  the  girls 
matrons  were  provided.  It  is  said  that  at  the 
Archbishop's  death  there  were  3040  teachers 
and  40,098  scholars  in  his  schools. 

Archbishop  Bellarmine  of  Capua  (1542-1 6*21), 
whom   Hallam   calls    "the   most    renowned    and 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  39 

formidable    champion"    of    the    Roman   church, 

prepared   a  catechisni  for  the   use    of    children. 

He  traveled   through   all   his   parishes, 
Bellarmine  .  i  -i  i  i         i         i 

gathermg  the  children  at  the  churches 

and   arranging   for   their   systematic   instruction. 

Count  Zinzendorf,  the  Moravian  revivalist,^ 
not  only  preached  to  children,  but  he  inaugurated 
a  system  of  bands,  or  classes  of  young 
converts.  They  met  once  or  twice  a 
week  regularly  in  little  groups  of  about  five  to 
sing  and  pray  and  discuss  religious  subjects  under 
the  direction  of  a  leader.  Wesley  acknowledges 
this  as  the  origin  of  the  class-meeting  plan,  but 
it  is  interesting  and  significant,  also,  as  one 
attempt  to  train  the  young  in  religion. 

Zwingli   published   in    1524    a   little   text-book 

entitled,    How    to    Educate    the    Young    in    Good 

Manners  and  Christian  Discipline,     He 

also   outlined    a  plan   of   a  systematic 

course  of  biblical  study. 

In  the  Netherlands  at  the  period  of  the  Renais- 
sance there  was  a  closer  approach  to  general 
John  elementary    education    than    anywhere 

of  Nassau  ^jg^  jj^  Europe.  The  schools  in  many 
towns  and  villages  were  probably  the  results  or 
survivals  of  those  founded  by  the  Brethren  of 
the  Common  Life.  In  1574  the  Council  of  Dort 
asked  the  state  to  see  that  there  was  a  school  and 
a   schoolmaster  of   the  reformed  faith  in   every 


40   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

community.  About  the  close  of  the  century 
John  of  Nassau  wrote  a  remarkable  letter  urging 
education  for  all  classes.  He  pleaded  that  the 
States-General  should  establish  free  schools  where 
all  classes  of  children  "could  be  well  and  chris- 
tianly  educated  and  brought  up  —  Soldiers  and 
patriots  thus  educated,  with  a  knowledge  of  God 
and  a  Christian  consciousness,  item,  churches 
and  schools,  good  libraries,  books  and  printing 
presses  are  better  than  all  armies,  arsenals, 
armories,  munitions,  alliances  and  treaties." 
The  land  that  made  such  ideals  practical  was 
the  home  of  the  settlers  of  Plymouth  and  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony.  (See  Campbell,  The 
Puritan  in  Holland,  England  and  America.) 

Wliat  checked  the  tremendous  sweep  of  the 
reformation  on  the  continent  of  Europe  in  a  very 
Jesuit  few    years    and    restored    the    ancient 

Schools  church  to  a  large  measure  of  power.'* 
Certainly  two  facts  account  in  large  measure  for 
this:  (1)  that  the  church  of  Rome  began  to  reform 
from  within;  and  (2)  that  this  reform  consisted 
in  taking  one  leaf  out  of  Luther's  book  and  doing 
that  which  he  proposed  much  better  than  any 
reform  organization  had  done  it.  Certain  leaders 
in  the  Roman  church  seriously  undertook  the 
task  of  teaching  the  doctrines  of  the  church  to 
the  young.  Ignatius  Loyola,  in  1534,  founded  the 
Jesuit  order  of  priests  to  combat  the  reformation. 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  41 

The  principal  means  employed  was  the  establish- 
ment and  control  of  schools  of  all  grades,  except 
the  very  elementary.  He  inaugurated  a  system 
of  religious  education  according  to  the  conception 
of  his  church.  The  society  sought  especially  to 
influence  young  men  and  youths.  It  planned  a 
course  of  study  and  regimen  that  embraced  every 
act  and  every  hour  of  the  student's  life.  Early 
in  the  eighteenth  century  the  order  had  six  hun- 
dred and  twelve  colleges,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  normal  schools,  twenty-four  universities, 
and  many  missions  with  schools.  The  colleges 
were  often  very  large,  their  students  being  youths 
usually  from  the  better  classes  of  society.  In 
addition  they  had  elaborate  arrangements  for 
personal  instruction  of  choice  youth. 

The  educational  activity  of  the  Jesuits  accom- 
plished much  for  their  church  and  seemed  to  check 
Jesuit's  ^^^  development  of  organized  Protes- 
Neglect  of  tantism  for  a  time.  But  it  failed  in  real- 
oung  .^y  ^^  educate  the  people  religiously  or 
to  win  them  to  the  church  because  it  neglected 
the  training  of  the  very  young  and  even  sought  to 
keep  the  lower  classes  in  complete  ignorance. 

August  Hermann  Francke  (1663-1727)  started 

a  school  for  the  poor  in  his  own  house  in  Glanca 

in     1695.     Later    he    organized    other 

schools,  both  elementary  and  advanced. 

He  urged  that  the  chief  aim  in  education  was 


(J 


42   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

religious  knowledge  and  life.^  But  he  protested 
against  mere  memory  "chattering."  His  schools 
remain  to  this  day.  They  profoundly  influenced 
German  popular  education. 

The  conflict  between  Protestantism  and  Roman- 
ism in  Europe  brought  about  an  unprecedented 
Protestant      interest  in  theology.     The  scholars  gave 
Day  Schools  ^j^^jj,  strength   almost   wholly  to  this 
subject.     The    literature    of    the    age    is    almost 
-exclusively  religious  or  theological.     The  current 
thought   of   the  period  took  form  under  this  in- 
fluence.    The  dominance  of  theology  led  to  the 
attempt  to  reduce  all  knowledge  to  the  narrow 
conceptions    of    the    theologians    and    to    reduce 
religious   thinking   to    an    infallible,    logical,    un- 
changeable   system    of    formal    statements.     But 
it  also  had  the  effect  of  quickening  popular  edu- 
cation and  giving  religion  the  first  place  in  classes 
and    schools    for    children    and    youth.     Every 
church  became  a  school  during  the  week.     True, 
the   instruction   was   often   in   the   hands   of   the 
sexton   or   of   a   priest   or   preacher   little   better 
fitted    for    the    work,    but    the    effort    awakened 
general  interest  and  foreshadowed  the  beginnings 
of  genuine  public  education. 

The  Protestant  schools  of  Germany  deserve 
larger  attention  than  is  possible  here.  They 
included   schools   for   girls    as    well  as   for  boys. 

^  See  his  Kurzer  und  einjdlligcr  Unterricht. 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  43 

Both   provided    that    reading,    writing,    Luther's 

catechism,  hymns,  and  the  Bible  should  be  taught. 

^  The  pupils  were  required  to   read  the 

German  ^     ^  ^  .  .        . 

Protestant    Bible  at  home  and  repeat  its  stories  in 

^  °°  ^        the  class.     The  principals  of  the  girls' 

schools  were  to  be  women  who  "loved  the  Word 

of  God." 

In  1773,  a  village  pastor  named  Kindermaun 

established  a  school  which  met  at  his  church  on 

_.   ,  Sundays.     His   plan  becoming   known 

Kindermaun   .  " 

it  was  adopted  by  many  other  parishes 

through     Bohemia,     and     the     Empress     Maria 

Theresa  rewarded  Kindermaun,   so  Frieselander 

says,  for  his  services. 

In  1769  Miss  Hannah  Ball,  of  High  Wycombe, 

about  thirty-five  miles  from  London,  gathered  a 

,  „  „  number  of   children   on   each   Sunday 

Hannah  Ball  •        i     p         .i      i  s?  •  j 

morning  beiore  the  hour  oi  service  and 

taught   them   to   read   the   Bible,   to   repeat   the 

catechism   and   the   church   collect   for   the   day. 

The  corner  in  the  church  where  she  gathered  her 

class  is  still  pointed  out  to  visitors.     It  may  well 

be    regarded    as    the    birthplace    of    the    English 

Sunday-schools. 

John  Frederic  Oberlin  was  pastor  at  Waldbach, 

in  the  Bandela  Roche.     In  17G7  he  became  both 

^^    ,.         pastor  and  schoolmaster  and  established 
Qberlm         ,         .  . 

-^  in   his  parish,  out  of   his  own  slender 

resources,  four  new  schools.     He  erected  houses 


y^ 


44   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

for  them  and  began  there  the  first  infant  schools 
ever  held.  Since  the  children  of  these  schools 
were  obliged  to  attend  services  on  Sunday  and  to 
meet  for  the  special  purposes  of  singing  their 
hymns  and  reciting  their  religious  lessons,  his 
work  belongs  in  the  lineage  of  the  Sunday-school. 
In  England  at  this  time  certain  great  schools, 
such  as  Whitefriars,  were  founded  by  private 
Public  funds  and  designed  for  the  education 

Schools        Qf  needy  youths  whose  parents  could 
not  afford  to  send  them  to  other  schools.     The 
pupils  were  fed  and  clothed  either  free  or  at  very 
small  charges.     But  it  was  not  long  before  the 
"Bluecoat"  boys  and  the  pupils  at  such  schools 
were  the  sons  of  rich  men,  of  the  families  of  army 
and   navy   officers   and   churchmen.     The   rights 
of  the  poor  were  stolen  from  them  and  at  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century  there  was  practically 
no  provision  for  the  education  of  the  children  of 
the  lower  classes  in  England.     No  wonder  there 
was  need  for  a  Robert  Raikes,  since  these  children 
not  only  had  no  training  but  changing  industrial 
conditions  compelled  them  to  work  at  least  six 
days   a   week.       However,   even   these  endowed 
"public  schools"  were  distinctly  religious  schools: 
they  were  founded  with  a  religious  purpose;  they 
were  conducted   by   the   religious   authorities   of 
the  realm;  and  they   gave   large   place   in  their 
curricula    to    religious    instruction.     The    youth 


LIGHTS     IN     THE     GLOOM  45 

of  those  public  schools  had  little  need  for  the 
Sunday-school.  No  demand  for  such  an  institu- 
tion was  likely  to  arise  from  the  English  middle 
and  upper  classes. 

It  was  not  until  Robert  Raikes  ^  had  been  for 
twenty  years  at  his  work  in  England  that  there 
Beginnings  ^as  any  general  awakening  to  the 
of  Public      recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  children 

uca  ion    ^j  ^^^  p^^^  ^^  educational  advantages. 

In  1811  what  was  known  as  the  National  Society 
was  founded.  Its  purpose  was  to  give  the  chil- 
dren of  the  poor  both  religious  and  secular  in- 
struction. The  religious  teaching  was  to  be  given 
by  the  established  Church,  the  Episcopal,  and 
the  subject  matter  was  to  be  in  accordance  with 
her  teachings.  These  schools  were,  until  1833, 
purely  voluntary;  in  that  year  the  government 
made  its  first  grant  of  money  to  them.  Out  of 
that  grant  rose  the  great  educational  controversy 
in  England  which  has  been  carried  on  into  the 
twentieth  century.  The  schools  first  founded 
by  the  National  Society  became  known  as  National 
Schools.  These  are  recognized  by  the  govern- 
ment and  in  them  religious  teaching  is  given  by 
teachers  of  the  state  church  (1910). 

The  British  and  Foreign  School  Society  shortly 

1  "The  Sunday-schools  established  by  Mr.  Raikes  .  .  .  were  the 
beginnings  of  popular  education."  Green,  Short  History  of  the 
English  People.    Vol.  II,  p.  359, 


46   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

afterwards  began  to  establish  schools  in  which, 
as  they  expressed  it,  an  ''undenominational  re- 
British  ligion"  should  be  taught.  Both  these 
School  types  of  schools,  however,  grew  out  of 

Society  religious  interest.  Popular  education 
in  England  has  a  distinctly  religious  foundation 
and,  down  to  this  day,  a  great  deal  of  attention 
is  devoted  in  by  far  the  larger  number  of  schools 
to  direct  religious  instruction.  However,  that 
instruction  has  been  a  constant  source  of  diffi- 
culty and  division,  and  an  increasing  number  of 
persons  in  Great  Britain  insist  that  all  religious 
instruction  must  be  left  wholly  to  voluntary 
agencies,  such  as  church  schools,  Sunday-schools, 
and  similar  associations  and  institutions. 


IV 


ROBERT  RAIKES 

In  early  Sunday-school  history  no  other  figure 
stands  out  in  relief  like  Robert  Raikes.  Not 
many  years  ago,  in  1880,  the  Protestant  world 
celebrated  the  centenary  of  the  Sunday-school, 
one  hundred  years  since  Raikes  founded  his  first 
schools  in  Gloucester,  England. 

Robert  Raikes  was  born  in  Gloucester,  Septem- 
ber 14,  1736.  His  childhood  was  spent  in  fairly 
The  Man  comfortable  circumstances.  That  his 
Raikes  education  was  not  neglected  is  evident; 
his  occupation  as  editor  of  The  Gloucester 
Journal  and  his  manifest  literary  ability  prove 
this.  It  is  said  that  he  was  for  a  time  at  Cam- 
bridge. In  early  manhood  he  became  interested 
in  the  inmates  of  the  county  jail  and  by  visitation 
and  by  writing  he  endeavored  to  alleviate  their 
appalling  condition. 

In  The  Gloucester  Journal  of  November  3,  1783, 
Raikes  gives  the  first  published  mention  of  his 
^    .    .        interest  in  the  schools  for  the  poor  on 

Beginnings  t    ^        u  x 

bunday.     Later  he  wrote  a  more  com- 
plete account  of  the  origin  and  working  of  his 

47 


48   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

plan.  He  told  how  he  became  impressed  with 
the  depravity  of  the  children  of  the  working  class, 
how  he  thought  of  gathering  them  on  Sundays, 
and  how  he  employed  four  women  to  instruct 
them  "in  reading  and  the  Church  catechism," 
paying  them  one  shilling  a  day  (easily  equiv- 
alent to  five  shillings  —  $1.25  —  at  this  day). 
He  then  called  his  printing  press  to  his  aid  in 
preparing  a  pamphlet  on  the  needs  of  the  chil- 
dren. By  the  aid  of  friends  he  bought  Bibles 
and  books  for  the  pupils.  Then  others  saw  the 
possibilities  of  these  schools  and  soon  a  number 
were  started.  In  1786  when  John  Wesley  visited 
Bolton,  Lancashire,  he  found  Sunday-schools 
established  there,  and  the  next  year  over  eight 
hundred  pupils  were  enrolled,  "taught  by  eighty 
masters,  who  receive  no  pay  but  what  they  are 
to  receive  from  their  great  Master."  There  is 
also  abundant  evidence  that  strong  schools  were 
established  at  Bradford,  Chester,  and  at  Stockton, 
the  latter  being  the  school  now  in  existence,  famous 
as  the  largest  in  the  world. 

In  cooperation  with  William  Fox,  who  at  about 
the  same  time  had  worked  out  similar  plans 
General  for  the  religious  training  of  the  young. 
Organization  "The  Society  for  Promoting  Sunday 
Schools  Throughout  the  British  Dominions" 
was  organized  in  1785.  Some  of  the  rules  framed 
by  this  society  are  interesting:  "Be  diligent  in 


ROBERTRAIKES  49 

teaching  the  children  to  read  well.  .  .  .  Neither 
writing  nor  arithmetic  is  to  be  taught  on  Sunday 
.  .  .  Range  your  scholars  in  classes,  according 
to  their  age  and  ability  .  .  .  Avoid  as  much  as 
possible  Corporal  Punishments."  ^  Several  dis- 
tinguished names  appear  in  connection  with 
Raikes'  work.  Hannah  More  wrote  to  William 
Wilberforce  in  1789,  seeking  to  obtain  books  for 
her  schools  in  Cheddar.  Mr.  Raikes  urged  the 
schools  with  both  high  and  low  and  succeeded 
in  stimulating  national  interest  in  his  movement. 
But  his  health  began  to  fail  and  on  April  5,  1811, 
he  died  in  his  own  city  of  Gloucester,  having 
succeeded  in  stirring  all  England  to  the  needs  of 
the  neglected  and  destitute  children  of  the  large 
cities. 

Some  really  surprising  facts  appear  when  one 
looks  under  the  surface  of  the  history  of  the 
Type  of  Sunday-school:  (1)  that  it  is  customary 
Schools  |-Q  speak  of  Robert  Raikes  as  the  "father 
of  this  great  movement";  (2)  that  there  were 
Sunday-schools  flourishing  in  several  places, 
centuries  before  Raikes,  and  that  long  before  his 
birth  there  were  several  in  his  own  country;  (3) 
that  the  Sunday-schools  of  our  day,  in  which  we 
often  honor  Raikes,  are  in  scarcely  any  particular 
like  the  ones   which  he  founded.     Our  modern 

*  Quoted  from  Robert  Raikes,  20th  Century  S.  S.  Series.  Ameri- 
can Baptist  PubUcation  Society.  • 


50   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Sunday-schools  are  not  "ragged  schools"  —  except 
as  many  of  them,  unfortunately,  might  deserve 
so  to  be  called  because  of  the  character  of  their 
organization  and  management.  Our  schools  do 
not  attempt,  except  in  very  rare  instances,  to 
teach  reading  and  writing,  while  those  of  Glouces- 
ter attempted  little  else.  His  schools  were  in- 
dependent institutions,  either  unrelated  to  or 
^opposed  by  the  churches.  These  differences  are, 
of  course  in  part,  but  not  altogether,  accounted 
for  by  natural  processes  of  development.  New 
conceptions  have  entered  in;  some  of  the  functions 
of  Raikes'  schools  have  been  taken  over  and 
developed  by  other  agencies.  The  public  schools 
now  do  his  work  of  general  teaching  and  the  relief 
and  aid  societies  care  for  destitute  children.  But 
if  all  that  Raikes  did  was  to  gather  destitute 
children  and  to  begin  a  system  of  general  educa- 
tion, in  what  way  can  he  properly  be  credited  with 
the  parentage  of  the  present-day  Sunday-school? 
It  surely  cannot  be  because  his  schools  met 
on  Sunday  and  our  schools  in  the  churches  do 
likewise. 

This  is  not  an  attempt  to  despoil  Raikes  of 
his  crown.  It  is  an  attempt,  in  view  of  the  three 
Why  Robert  facts  mentioned  above,  to  show  the 
Raikes?  precise  significance  of  Raikes  in  the 
Sunday-school  movement  and  history.  Raikes 
is  the  father   of    the    Sunday-school,   not  as  its 


ROBERTRAIKES  51 

inventor,  still  less  as  its  maker  or  perfector,  but 
as  its  prophet.  He  did  not  foresee  the  graded, 
organized,  pedagogical  school  of  the  twentieth 
century;  he  did  have  love  and  faith  enough  to 
look  forward  in  the  direction  of  that  school  and  to 
compel  many  others,  his  contemporaries  and 
successors,  to  take  the  forward  look.  His  motives 
compelled  the  steps  that  have  gradually  brought 
us  where  we  now  are. 

It  is  important  to  account  for  some  of  the  facts 
mentioned.  First,  why  did  the  schools  founded 
A  Pi  e  ^^  Raikes  find  permanent  rootage  while 
those  that  preceded  him  were  but 
te^ilpDrary?  Wliy  did  the  great  system  of  Cardi- 
al Borromeo  and  the  splendid  plans  of  Arch- 
bishop Bellarmine,  in  the  early  seventeenth 
century,  the  familiar  school  of  Nicholas  Ferrar 
and  the  much  disputed  school  of  Joseph  Alleine 
in  Bath,  all  end  in  themselves,  while  the  schools 
founded  by  Raikes  succeeded  in  giving  birth  to 
new  ideals  and  taking  such  hold  on  the  minds 
and  sympathies  of  men  as  to  secure  their  con- 
tinuity and  their  unbroken  development  .^^ 

First  of  all,  Raikes  was  dominated  by  a  motive 
that  seems  to  be  stronger,  deeper,  and  more  nearly 
Secret  of  universal  than  that  which  gave  birth 
Raikes  |.q  ^^le  schools  before  him.  He  was 
swayed  with  passion  for  the  children.  He  pitied 
and    loved    them.     To    him    the    child    was    the 


52   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

reason  for  the  school.  That  is  precisely  the  point 
of  view  taken  today:  the  child  is  the  cause  of 
the  school;  modern  pedagogy  insists  that  in  the 
child  we  must  find  all  the  principles  of  the  school. 
Robert  Raikes  did  not  call  his  schools  Bible 
schools;  he  called  them  schools  for  ragged  chil- 
dren. They  were  children's  schools,  and  especially 
for  destitute  children.  He  did  not  organize  them 
under  the  splendid  ideal  of  all  children  being 
familiar  with  the  Bible;  he  organized  them  to 
give  those  children  a  real  chance  at  better  living. 
As  they  were,  those  children  were  a  menace  to 
the  city,  a  menace  to  themselves.  The  problem 
was  to  free  them  somehow  from  ignorance  and 
evil  habits.  If  you  gather  children  that  they 
may  know  your  Scriptures,  that  they  may  think 
of  religion  as  you  think  of  it,  even  though  your 
purpose  may  be  excellent,  it  is  only  a  literary 
or  a  philosophical  aim.  To  accomplish  the  best 
results  another  motive  must  dominate;  the  child 
must  be  set  before  the  curriculum.  That  was 
the  saving  mark  of  the  schools  founded  by  the 
Gloucester  philanthropist;  they  were  organized 
for  the  sake  of  the  child,  not  for  any  sectarian, 
doctrinal,  literary,  or  institutional  aim.  They 
made  themselves  one  with  our  modern  schools 
in  their  basic  passion  for  the  child. 

Many  schools,  possessed  of  great  advantages, 
have  failed  because  their  primary  aims  have  not 


ROBERTRAIKES  53 

been  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  child;  they  have 
existed  for  the  Bible,  or  for  the  denomination. 
The  Saving  OF  for  the  Creed.  A  child  ought  to 
Motive  know  the  Bible;  it  ought  to  be  the  most  , 
attractive  book  in  the  world  to  him;  it  may 
easily  become  the  most  familiar;  and  a  child 
ought  to  come  into  life-relationship  with  his 
church.  But  to  sit  down  and  say,  "Come,  let 
us  build  a  Sunday-school  so  that  the  Bible  may 
be  taught  and  so  that  the  church  may  be  strength- 
ened," is  to  build  a  school  and  arrange  its  curric- 
ulum on  the  basis  of  the  Bible  or  on  that  of  the 
church  instead  of  on  the  needs  of  the  child.  That 
is  to  work  toward  the  object  of  a  system  of 
knowledge  instead  of  toward  the  aim  of  a  child 
growing  up  into  the  fulness  of  ideal  and  divine 
life.  But  having  the  child  as  purpose  and  object, 
the  Bible,  the  whole  curriculum,  the  creed  and 
the  church,  become  the  tools  and  means  to  serve 
this  high  purpose.  That  was  the  vision  Raikes 
saw  when  he  looked  on  the  unkempt,  ragged,  and 
blasphemous  little  scamps  of  the  alleys.  Through 
dirt  and  rags,  through  the  stamp  of  bestial  homes 
and  vicious  environment,  he  looked  and  saw  the 
possible  Christ-child.  He  had  faith  in  even  these 
dregs  of  humanity.  His  was  a  human  passion; 
the  methods  for  its  realization  worked  themselves 
out  later. 

Another  great   saving   impulse   was   operative 


54   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

in  the  Raikes  schools:  that  was  the  founder's 
conception  of  pubhc  education.  The  develop- 
Educational  ment  of  his  scheme  may  be  traced  in 
^^^  the  letters  which  he  wrote.     Doubtless 

he  would  have  scouted  the  idea  that  learning 
of  any  kind  or  degree  would  be  sufficient  of  itself 
to  secure  right  living  and  holy  character.  But 
certain  convictions  on  the  dangers  of  ignorance 
and  on  education  as  a  pathway  of  growing  light 
and  life  glowed  in  his  mind.  Remember  that 
he  was  first  of  all  a  lover  of  his  kind,  a  true  philan- 
thropist. Our  earliest  accounts  show  him  con- 
cerned over  the  conditions  in  the  city  jails,  over 
the  large  number  of  prisoners,  their  besotted 
ignorance,  and  their  hopeless  indifference  to 
degraded  conditions.  Then  he  is  concerned  over 
the  conditions  of  industry;  why  are  so  many 
homes  wretchedly  poor,  fairly  destitute  of  even 
the  barest  decencies,  when  parents  and  all  the 
children  work  long  hours  in  the  pin  shops  .^  As 
a  man  with  a  craft,  the  somewhat  rare  and  quite 
respectable  trade  of  a  printer,  he  is  above  this  mass 
of  poverty;  but  he  loves  his  kind  whether  they 
are  of  the  clean  stock  of  the  English  gentleman 
or  of  the  seething  mass  at  the  bottom.  Long 
brooding  over  their  needs  convinces  him  that  the 
people  at  the  bottom  might  become  as  good  as 
those  at  the  top,  if  they  had  the  chance.  They 
-  were   sinning   because   they   had   no   knowledge. 


ROBERTRAIKES  55 

Lying,  thieving,  vice,  and  every  form  of  evil 
would  seem  perfectly  normal  to  children  brought 
up  in  hovels  without  instruction  of  any  kind. 
The  Gloucester  philanthropist  printer  discovered 
for  himself  the  great  principles  of  common  edu- 
cation which  still  uphold  this  system  today.  He 
recognized  that  all  persons  have  a  right  to  that 
common  fund  of  knowledge  regarding  the  essential 
facts  of  life,  and  to  the  wider  vision  of  life  in  order 
that  they  may  see  life  as  a  whole,  that  they  may 
learn  the  art  of  right  living  with  one  another, 
that  they  may  come  to  the  fulness  of  their  own 
powers,  that  they  may  become  possessors  of  their 
splendid  heritage  of  ideals,  and  that  they  may  be 
able  to  render  their  full  and  efficient  service  to 
their  day.  Raikes  was  a  prophet  of  the  mod- 
ern system  of  public  education  and  the  school 
on  Sundays  was  his  first  expression  of  his 
vision. 

Of  course  Raikes  was  not  the  first  prophet  of 
public  education.  But,  by  using  the  one  spare 
Free  day  of  the  week,  he  gave  a  practical 

Education  demonstration  of  that  public  education 
which  was  no  more  than  a  dream  in  the  minds 
of  a  few  leaders  in  England.  Several  have  lately 
suggested  that  in  the  United  States  the  system 
of  elementary  public  education  has  become  so 
much  the  object  of  blind  enthusiasm  as  to  be 
almost    a    popular    fetich.     But    underlying    all 


y 


5Q        EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

popular  enthusiasm  for  these  schools  is  a  deep 
conviction  of  their  absolute  necessity  to  popular 
freedom  and  especially  to  freedom  for  personal 
character  development.  In  a  free  nation  the 
school  is  the  chance  to  express  a  great  altruistic 
motive,  a  chance  to  give  freely  in  order  that 
others  may  receive.  Even  the  man  who  has  no 
children  would  be  the  object  of  public  scorn  if, 
on  that  account,  he  should  seriously  object  to 
supporting  public  schools.  In  fact,  the  feeling 
is  growing  that  those  who  have  none  to  be  educated 
should  pay  the  larger  share  toward  the  education 
of  others. 

Now  this  altruistic  spirit  of  public  education 
is  also  the  spirit  that  underlies  the  Sunday-school. 
Essential      '^^^^    Sunday-school    might   well   claim 

Spirit  of  the  public  school  as  one  of  its  children. 
Altruism       ^tm  ^  i  m  i 

I  he   attempt   to   educate   children    on 

Sunday   preceded   any   attempt   at   general   free 

public  education   in   English-speaking   countries. 

**The  act  of  1642  in  Massachusetts  neither  made 

schooling   free    nor    imposed    a    penalty    for   its 

neglect."  '     It  was  "not  until  thirty  years  after 

the  war  of  1776  that  a  regular  system  of  schools 

at  the  public  expense  was  established."  ^ 

The   religious   characteristics   of   Raikes   must 

not  be  overlooked.     Doubtless  of  deep  spiritual 

^  Boone,  Education  in  the  United  States. 
^  Rhine,  Early  Free  Schools  in  America. 


ROBERTRAIKES  57 

conviction,  holding  to  a  high  faith,  and  conscious 
of  the  presence  of  his  Father  at  all  times,  he 
Raikes'  sccms  to  have  been  what  one  would 
Religious     call  a  practical-minded  Christian.*^  He 

expressed  his  faith  in  his  works.  Even 
in  his  letters  he  spent  little  time  in  elaborating 
theological  theses;  in  this  he  was  unlike  most 
of  his  literary  contemporaries.  Even  though  he 
had  that  exceedingly  tempting  opportunity  of 
a  printing  press  right  at  hand,  he  used  it  only  for 
practical  purposes.  Instead  of  printing  tracts 
to  prove  certain  doctrines,  he  printed  them  to 
promote  certain  practical  plans.  In  many  re- 
spects Raikes  would  have  been  much  at  home  in 
the  twentieth  century,  which  is  the  era  of  the  man 
of  affairs  in  religion.  Some  of  his  friends  de- 
scribe him  as  very  much  a  man  of  business, 
"steady,  methodical,  and  very  tenacious  of  pur- 
pose." Perhaps  in  some  measure  the  permanency 
of  the  essential  parts  of  his  idea  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  they  were  expressed  by  a  man  with  a  practi- 
cal eye.  He  sought  the  realization  of  his  ideal 
of  the  heavenly  city,  the  city  where  "there  shall 
be  children  playing  in  the  streets  thereof." 

We  are  justified,  then,  in  regarding  Raikes  as 
The  Man's  ^^  important  figure  in  the  history  of  the 
Accomplish- development  of  the  Sunday-school  and 

as  a  man  marking  one  great  stage  of 
progress   in   the    history   of   religious   education. 


58   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

This  is  not  because,  as  some  would  seem  to  claim, 
he  planned  the  present-day  Sunday-school,  but 
because  (1)  he  had  the  courage  to  apply  great, 
fundamental  principles  and  motives  to  the  edu- 
cation of  the  young;  (2)  he  had  the  tenacity  to 
continue  his  work  in  face  of  all  opposition,  even 
that  of  those  who  ought  most  cordially  to  have 
cooperated  with  him,  and  (3)  he  had  the  wisdom 
to  begin  his  work  with  those  who  most  needed 
it  and  in  the  place  where  he  could  do  it  best. 


7 


•>;  .. 


EARLY   SCHOOLS   IN   NORTH   AMERICA 

To  the  early  settlers  in  New  England  separate 
institutions  for  religious  education  would  have 
seemed  as  superfluous  as  separate  schools  for 
instruction  in  civic  liberty.  Religion  was  their, 
daily  mental  and  spiritual  bread.  It  was  at 
least  one  of  the  great  causes  of  their  being  where 
they  were  and  seemed  to  them  the  dominating 
factor  in  all  they  did.  When  they  came  to 
establish  schools,  as  they  did  very  early,  at  least 
in  the  development  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
Colony,^  religious  subjects  took  a  large  place  in 
the  curriculum.  Five  years  after  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony  was  settled  the  Boston 
Latin  School  was  established.  The  next  year, 
1636,  Harvard  College  was  founded  to  train 
young  men  for  the  ministry  and,  as  expressed  in 
1650,  for  "the  education  of  the  English  and 
Indian  youth  of  this  country  in  knowledge  and 

^  The  interest  of  the  Virginia  Colony  seems  to  have  centered  in 
instruction  in  the  "liberal  arts,"  after  the  ideal  of  EngUsh  univef- 
sitiea. 

59 


60   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

godliness."  In  1642  the  Massachusetts  General 
Court  ordered,  "That  all  masters  of  families  do, 
once  a  week  at  least,  catechise  their  children  and 
servants  in  the  grounds  and  principles  of  religion, 
and  if  any  be  unable  to  do  so  much,  that  then, 
at  the  least,  they  procure  such  children  or  appren- 
tices to  learn  some  short  orthodox  catechism, 
without  book,  that  they  may  be  able  to  answer 
the  questions  that  shall  be  propounded  to  them 
out  of  such  catechism." 

Five  years  after  this  order  came  the  celebrated 
"charter  of  free  education,"  the  1647  enactment 

^^    ,      .of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts. 
Charterof  ,    ,         .  ,       <«  .i     .  i 

Free  This  provided  that,  m  order    that  learn- 

Education    .^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^^.j^j  j^  ^^e  grave  of 

our  fathers,  in  Church  and  Commonwealth,  the 
Lord  assisting  our  endeavors,  it  is  therefore 
ordered  that  every  township  in  this  jurisdiction, 
after  the  Lord  hath  increased  them  to  the  number 
of  fifty  householders,  shall  then  forthwith  appoint 
one  within  their  town  to  teach  all  such  children 
as  shall  resort  to  him  to  read  and  write."  It 
further  provided  for  the  payment  of  such  masters 
by  the  parents  and  the  householders.  We  today 
cannot  easily  conceive  the  extent  to  which  these 
schools  were  religious  schools.  The  text-books 
were  religious  in  tone  and  subject;  biblical  ma- 
terial was  freely  used;  scriptural  knowledge  was 
an  essential  part  of  the  course.     This  was  true 


EARLY     SCHOOLS     IN     AMERICA        61 

of  New  England  and  Eastern  schools  for  many 
decades.  The  text-books  were  written  to  teach 
religion.  The  books  officially  provided  later 
for  pupils'  libraries  were  not  only  religious,  they 
were  dogmatic,  fiercely  assailing  all  "false  doc- 
trine" and  often  calculated  to  intensify  religious 
prejudices  and  partizanship.  A  recent  writer  ^ 
quotes  the  interesting  statement  of  one  who 
attended  those  early  schools,  who  says  that  the 
teacher  "continually  prayed  with  us  every  day 
and  catechised  us  every  week." 

Remember  the  pious  character  of  all  instruction 
and   the   pious   customs   of  these   early   settlers. 

„    .    .        Call  to  mind  the  many  pictures  of  the 

Beginnings  ,  .  , 

in  New        Saturday    afternoon    catechism    lessons 

England  -^  ^^^  homes  and,  in  other  cases,  the 
gathering  of  the  young  for  the  same  purpose  and 
at  the  same  period  in  the  meeting  houses.  It  is 
not  strange  that  the  institution  of  separate  Sun- 
day-schools would  appear  to  be  superfluous; 
and  so  the  colonists  seem  to  have  regarded  the 
situation  for  a  few  years.  Yet,  with  the  recognized 
necessity  for  weekly  religious  instruction  and 
with  the  activity  of  the  ministry  toward  this 
end,  it  was  only  natural  that  the  short  period 
between  the  two  preaching  services  on  Sunday 
should  seem  appropriate  for  gathering  children 

*  Marianna  C.  Brown  in  Sunday  School  Movements  in  America, 
p.  19. 


62   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

in  classes.  Since  the  children  had  nothing  else 
to  do,  and  must  remain  usually  from  one  service 
to  the  other,  what  more  natural  than  to  fill  up 
even  that  short  period  with  pious  instruction? 
Doubtless  there  were  many  instances  of  which 
we  have  no  record  in  which  this  was  done.  In 
other  cases  zealous  pastors  would  retain  the  chil- 
dren after  the  afternoon  service  for  catechetical 
instruction.  The  Reverend  J.  S.  Reed  mentions 
such  a  service  of  instruction  for  children  as  being 
conducted  in  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  as  early  as  1674.  There 
is  also  an  account  of  such  a  school  at  Norwich, 
Connecticut,  in  1676.  In  1669,  still  earlier, 
mention  is  made  of  a  similar  school  at  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts.^  In  1680  there  is  a  clear  record 
of  a  vote  passed  by  the  Plymouth  church,  "That 
the  deacons  be  requested  to  assist  the  minister 
in  teaching  the  children  during  the  intermission 
on  the  Sabbath."  The  intermission  was  between 
the  two  preaching  services.  That  sort  of  a  reso- 
lution might  well  be  adopted  by  a  good  many 

*  It  is  evident,  however,  that  there  was  no  widespread  or  general 
movement  for  schoools  for  the  religious  instruction  of  the  young  on 
Sunday  at  this  tijne,  for  the  only  other  instances  that  seem  to  be 
at  all  authentic  up  to  the  American  Revolution  are  the  following: 
At  Newton,  L.  I.,  N.  Y.,  said  to  have  been  organized  by  the  Rev- 
erend Morgan  Jones  in  1683;  at  Ephrata,  Penn.,  a  Dunker  school 
organized  by  Ludwig  Stucker  in  1740;  at  Bethlehem,  Conn., 
conducted  b^  the  Reverend  Joseph  Ballamy  in  1740. 


EARLY     SCHOOLS     IN     AMERICA        63 

Sunday-schools  today,  to  the  stimulation  of  both 
deacons  and  pastors. 

This  brings  us  in  the  United  States  almost  to 
the  period  of  the  foundation  of  Sunday-schools 
,  by  Robert  Raikes  in  England.  In  a 
Plan  in  few  years  the  plan  which  he  conceived 
^^®"*^^  was  carried  over  to  North  America. 
Conditions,  however,  were  so  different  on  the 
western  shores  of  the  Atlantic  that  the  schools 
which  resulted  from  the  importation  of  his  plan 
were  quite  unlike  those  organized  in  English  cities. 
First,  the  appalling  conditions  of  destitution  and 
neglect  which  so  profoundly  moved  the  heart  of 
the  Gloucester  philanthropist  were  not  found  in 
the  American  villages.  In  the  second  place,  the 
Sunday-schools  were  introduced  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  churches  and  not,  as  at  first  in  England,  I 
with  their  opposition. 

Despite  many  differences,  there  was  keen  need 
for  such  schools.  Following  the  Revolutionary 
New  War   there  was  a  breaking   up  of   old 

Conditions  habits.  Certain  types  of  sceptical  and 
atheistic  thinking  had  become  the  vogue  in  the 
colleges  and  a  tide  of  material  development 
seemed  to  sweep  before  it  many  of  the  old  domestic 
customs  and  pious  observances.  It  was  the 
incoming  of  new  life  and  the  breaking  of  the  old 
bottles.  Just  at  that  time  sectarian  differences 
and    disputes    became     unhappily    pronounced. 


64        EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Between  the  two  tendencies,  to  irreligion  and  to 
sectarianism,  religious  instruction  in  the  schools 
fell  into  disuse  and  even  on  Sundays  churches 
were  often  too  busy  holding  their  own,  one  against 
another,  to  have  much  regard  for  the  religious 
nurture  of  the  young.  Such  tendencies  are 
clearly  marked  in  the  literature  of  the  period. 
They  account  in  large  measure  for  the  failure  of 
the  Sunday-school  idea  —  evidently  planted  in 
colonial  soil  before  the  time  of  Raikes  —  to 
germinate  and  develop  rapidly  in  North  America. 

There  is  a  suggestion  of  the  early  recognition 
of  the  insufficiency  or  unsuitability  of  the  public 
j^  ,  g  schools  for  religious  instruction,  and 
in  Public      therefore  of  the  need  of  Sunday-schools 

ucation     ^^  ^j^^  history  of  public  education  in  the 

state  of  New  York.  The  present  public-school 
system  of  that  state  started  in  1805  in  the  move- 
ment to  establish  free  schools  for  the  children 
of  indigent  persons.  The  founders  of  these 
schools  saw  that  it  would  be  wise  to  avoid  the 
teaching  of  any  religious  doctrines  in  them.  Of 
course,  many  were  ready  at  once  to  label  such 
schools  as  "godless"  and  to  insist  upon  the  in- 
sufficiency of  public  education  under  such  limi- 
tations. In  order  to  meet  the  wishes  of  such 
critics  it  was  arranged  that  the  regular  studies 
should  be  suspended  on  one  afternoon  in  each 
week.     Upon    this    being    done,  a  committee  of 


EARLY     SCHOOLS     IN     AMERICA        65 

ladies  in  New  York  undertook  to  meet  on  that 
day  and  examine  the  children  in  their  reHgious 
catechisms  —  a  scheme  similar  to  that  in  vogue 
in  France  for  some  time  and  recently  proposed 
again  in  New  York. 

One  other  important  early  development  of 
Sunday-school  interest  occurred  in  the  United 
The  First-  States  as  a  direct  result  of  the  work 
Day  Society  of  Robert  Raikes.  This  was  the  or- 
ganization in  1791,  at  Philadelphia,  of  "The 
First-Day  or  Sunday  School  Society."  This 
body  still  maintains  its  official  existence  (1911). 
The  gentlemen  who  organized  this  society  were 
moved  to  do  so  by  the  ignorant  condition 
of  large  numbers  of  the  youth  of  the  city. 
Although  Pennsylvania  had  very  early  projected 
a  most  praiseworthy  system  of  public  education, 
there  is  little  evidence  that  it  had  reached  down 
through  all  strata  of  society.  A  Public  Grammar 
School  was  established  in  1689,  but  it  seems  to 
have  been  modeled  after  the  English  Charity 
Schools,  so  as  to  be  of  benefit  only  to  the  chil- 
dren of  persons  of  means.  Franklin's  well-known 
educational  endeavors  were  directed  to  an  Acad- 
emy, the  forerunner  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. But  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  there 
were  children  as  destitute  and  as  ignorant  as 
those  whose  condition  so  profoundly  moved  the 
heart  of  Raikes. 


66   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Three   men   conferred    over   the   state    of    the 
youth  of  the  city;  they  were  —  happy  augury  of 
future  interdenominational  cooperation 
in  Organi-    —  Bishop    White,    Episcopanan;    Mat- 
zation  thew  Carey,  Roman  CathoHc;  and  Dr. 

Benjamin  Rush,  Universalist.  A  pubhc  meeting 
wag  called  for  December  19,  1790,  at  which 
the  plan  of  organizing  Sunday-schools  was  ex- 
plained. A  week  later  a  constitution  and  the 
name  of  the  society  were  adopted.  The  plan  of 
operation  distinctly  stated  that  instruction  should 
consist  in  learning  to  read  and  write  from,  the 
Bible  and  other  moral  and  religious  books.  While 
the  society  had  been  animated  by  the  same 
motives  as  Raikes  and  proposed  the  same  general 
plan  it  evidently  had  in  mind  a  distinctly  religious 
purpose.  The  preamble  of  the  constitution  is 
highly  interesting. 

"Whereas,  the  good  education  of  youth  is  of 
the  first  importance  to  society,  and  numbers  of 
children,  the  offspring  of  indigent  parents,  have 
not  proper  opportunities  of  instruction  previous  to 
their  being  apprenticed  to  trades;  and  whereas, 
among  the  youth  of  every  large  city,  various 
instances  occur  of  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
called  Sunday  —  a  day  which  ought  to  be 
devoted  to  religious  improvements  —  being  em- 
ployed to  the  worst  of  purposes,  the  depravity 
of    morals    and    manners:     It    is    therefore    the 


EARLY     SCHOOLS     IN     AMERICA        67 

opinion  of  sundry  persons,  that  the  estabhsh- 
ment  of  Sunday-schools  in  this  city  would  be 
of  essential  advantage  to  the  rising  generations; 
and  for  effecting  that  benevolent  purpose  they 
have  formed  themselves  into  a  society." 

As  in  the  case  of  the  society  for  promoting 
Sunday-schools  in  the  British  Dominions,  in 
1785,  so  with  the  Philadelphia  First-Day  Society, 
the  organization  was  possible  and  imperative  on 
account  of  the  great  tide  of  missionary  enthusiasm 
that  swept  over  the  Christian  world  about  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


VI 


THE  ADOPTION  OF  THE  SCHOOL  BY 

THE  CHURCH 

In  Great  Britain  the  serious  opposition  to  Sun- 
day-schools, as  estabHshed  by  Raikes,  came  from 
the  churches;  in  the  United  States  the  churches 
fostered  the  schools.  The  striking  difference 
between  the  Sunday-schools  in  the  two  countries 
is  largely  due  to  this  fact. 

\    The    first    Sunday-schools    in    England    were 
established  and  conducted  by  private  enterprise. 

Originally    their    religious    value    was 
The  School     .       ,        .      .  ,      ,    i     ,  i     • 
at  the  Door  Simply    mcidental;  their    purpose    was 

of  the  moral    and    educational.     Raikes    had 

Church 

little  success  in  enlisting  the  support 
of  the  English  clergy.  As  the  movement  spread 
and  some  of  the  schools  sought  to  meet  in 
chapels  and  church  rooms  they  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  clergy.  Many  regarded  the  use 
of  the  sacred  edifice,  even  the  chapel  or  vestry 
room,  for  the  religious  instruction  of  children  as 
an  act  of  desecration.  It  was  also  feared  that 
thus  to  popularize  education  would  lead  to  dis- 

68 


ADOPTION     OF     THE     SCHOOL  60 

content  and  lawlessness.     John  Wesley  heartily 

supported   the   movement,   while   the   Bishop   of 

Rochester  denounced   it  in  no  measured   terms. 

The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  called  a  conference 

of  bishops  to  decide  on  plans  to  arrest  the  progress 

of  these  schools. 

Hannah    More    met    with    bitter    and    cruel 

opposition  to  her  schools.     She  was  accused  of 

^       .^.       sedition  and  treason.     She  was  charged 
Opposition        .  .  .        . 

with  being  an  accomplice  in  plans  to 

'  assassinate  her  opponents,  the  clergy.     Teachers 

and  school  workers  were  subjected  to  many  petty 

persecutions,  for  they  were  regarded  as  usurpers 

of  the  neglected  privileges  of  the  clergy. 

The  press  joined  with  the  clergy  in  expressing 
its  terror  lest  these  new  schools  should  undermine 
The  Press  the  existing  order.  Even  The  Gentle- 
Opposes  mans  Magazine,  which  has  become 
known  to  thousands  only  through  its  advocacy 
of  Raikes'  plans,  published  a  communication 
bitterly  assailing  the  Sunday-school  as  "sub- 
versive of  that  order,  that  industry,  that  peace 
and  tranquillity  which  constitute  the  happiness 
of  society;  and  that  so  far  from  deserving  en- 
couragement and  applause  it  merits  our  contempt." 
It  is  easy  to  imagine  that  country  gentlemen  and 
other  stockholders  who  believed  it  to  be  the 
divine  will  that  little  children  should  work  in 
pin  factories   and   other   child-labor   institutions 


70   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

objected  to  any  educational  agency  which  might 
make  them  discontented  with  slavery. 

The  school  was  opposed  as  desecrating  the  day 
of  rest  and  it  was  therefore  urged  that  "Sunday- 
The School  schools  should  be  held  on  week  days." 
a"Desecra- The  opposition  came  from  nonconform- 
ing ministers,  as  well  as  from  clergy- 
men of  the  State  Church.  Even  in  the  United 
States  there  were  ministers  who  denounced  the 
schools.  One  pastor  succeeded  in  driving  teacher 
and  class  from  the  church  to  the  schoolhouse  and 
from  the  schoolhouse  to  the  open,  shaking  his 
cane  at  the  class  and  crying,  "You  imps  of  Satan, 
doing  the  devil's  work ! "  In  1787  George  Daugha- 
day,  a  Methodist  preacher,  was  ducked  in  a  cistern 
for  presuming  to  gather  a  class  of  negro  children 
and  instruct  them  in  the  Bible.  But  in  the  end 
the  school  won  its  right  to  do  its  work. 

Concerning  the  Edinburgh  Gratis  Sunday  School 
Society  one  of  the  workers  wrote  to  a  friend:  "At 
Popular  the  first  formation  of  the  society  — 
Feeling  several  of  the  more  liberal  of  the  clergy 
attended,  but  they  have  almost  all  deserted  us 
now,  and  are  beginning  to  look  upon  us  with  a 
jealous  eye.  One  of  them  said  the  other  day 
that  we  were  striking  a  blow  at  the  very  vitals 
of  the  Establishment  by  means  of  these  schools." 
Describing  conditions  in  1798  in  England  one 
writes:  "The    opposition    which    Mr.    Cranfield 


ADOPTION     OF     THE     SCHOOL  71 

and  his  friends  encountered  in  this  district  was 
dreadful.  Every  species  of  insult  was  heaped 
ufM)^  them;  they  were  pelted  with  filth  of  all 
dAcii^tions,  and  dirty  water  was  frequently 
thrown  ^jkt  of  windows  on  their  heads."  ^  Of 
course  fi^Bdl^uch  acts  should  be  credited  to  the 
oppositic^n  iP^fche  church. 

Conditions  ,  would  have  been  very  different, 
however,  had  the  organized  religious  agencies 
understood  the  possibilities  of  this  school 
and  welcomed  their  greatest  recruiting, 
conserving  agency.  But  the  schools  were  suffered 
to  go  on  as  independent  activities,  as  "ragged 
schools."  Meeting  with  coldness  and  active 
opposition,  many  ceased  to  exist.  Raikes'  school 
was  closed  in  1811.  The  sagacious  leader,  John 
Wesley,  was  one  of  the  first  to  recognize  the  need 
for  the  Sunday-school  and  its  proper  place  in  the 
work  of  the  church.  In  the  First  Discipline,  in 
1784,  it  is  ordered  that,  "Where  there  are  ten 
children  whose  parents  are  in  the  society,  meet 
them  at  least  one  hour  every  week."  In  1785 
Wesley  published  an  account  of  the  schools, 
speaking  of  them  in  terms  of  commendation. 
In  The  American  Magazine  he  wrote  the  striking 
words,  "Perhaps  God  may  have  a  deeper  end 
thereto  than  men  are  aware  of.     Who  knows  but 

^  Quoted  by  C.  G.  Trumbull  in  The  Development  of  the  Sunday 
School,  p,  9.  -.  -  . 


72   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

what  some  of  these  schools  may  become  nurseries 
for  Christians?"  Wesley's  foresight  in  regard 
to  these  schools  had,  doubtless,  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  the  fact  that  the  Methodist  churches  in  the 
United  States  were  amongst  the  first  formally 
to  adopt  the  Sunday-school  as  a  regular  part  of 
church  work. 

In  Wales  a  certain  Charles,  of  Bala,  brought 
the  school  into  relation  to  the  church  before 
Charles,  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
of  Bala  conducted  a  public  campaign  which 
called  attention  to  the  need  for  such  schools  and 
organized  them  in  the  churches.  He  enlisted  the 
attendance  of  adults  as  well  as  children  and, 
significant  fact,  he  made  the  Bible  the  principal 
subject  of  all  their  study. 
5  In  the  United  States  a  slight,  sporadic  opposi- 
tion to  the  Sunday-schools  was  based,  not  on  the 

..  ground  of  the  menace  of  the  religious 

United  education  of  the  lowly,  but  on  that  of 
States  i^g  being  a  departure  from  established 
church  usage.  This  indicates  how  closely  these 
schools  were  already  identified  with  the  churches. 
In  the  United  States  Sunday-schools  were  in  ex- 
istence before  Raikes  began  his  "ragged  schools" 
at  Gloucester.  A  number  of  well-authenticated 
instances  of  such  schools  meeting  under  church 
auspices  are  on  record.  The  religious  instruction 
of   children   was   ordained   by   the   councils   and 


ADOPTION     OF     THE     SCHOOL  73 

authoritative  bodies  of  the  various  denominations. 
So  that  it  was  not  at  all  a  strange  thing  to  find 
Bishop  Asbury,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  adapting 
the  Raikes  plan  to  conditions  in  North  America 
and  organizing  a  Sunday-school  at  the  home  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Crenshaw,  in  Hanover  County,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1786.  This  was  really  a  school  in  a  church 
for  this  home  was  one  of  the  Bishop's  preaching 
stations.  Practically  all  the  early  American 
Sunday-schools  were  organized  by  churches  and  j 
conducted  in  churches. 

In  1790  the  Methodist  Conference  at  Charles-  / 
ton.  South  Carolina,  formally  placed  the  Sunday- 
school  in  the  care  of  the  church.  It  ordered  that 
there  should  be  established  "Sunday  schools  in  or 
near  the  place  of  worship.  Let  persons  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Bishops,  Deacons,  or  Preachers,  to 
teach  gratis  all  who  will  attend  and  have  capacity 
to  learn,  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  ten, 
and  from  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  till  six,  when 
it  does  not  interfere  with  public  worship."  ^  Truly 
this  was  taking  the  school  seriously!  -^ 

The  last  ten  years  of  the  eighteenth  century/ 
witnessed  the  formation  of  many  Sunday-schools 
City  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States,  nearly 

Schools        ^11    organized   in    churches.     Doubtless 
the  number  was  much  greater  than  we  are  able 

^  Quoted  by  M.  C.  Brown  in  Sunday  School  Movements  in  America, 
p.  23. 


74   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

to  show  precisely  at  this  time.  Dr.  Reed  gives 
1790  as  the  year  of  the  organization  of  the  first 
Universahst  Sunday-school,  at  Philadelphia,  the 
first  amongst  the  Friends  in  the  same  city  in  1791, 
and  amongst  the  Baptists  at  Pawtucket,  Rhode 
Island  in  1791.  The  first  Baptist  Sunday-school 
in  the  South  was  organized  in  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  Baltimore  in  1804.  The  first  Sunday- 
school  for  negroes  was  established  in  St.  Louis 
in  1818. 

Schools  in  the  United  States  on  the  same 
general  plan  as  the  Raikes  schools  stand  out  as 
Private  entirely  different  institutions  from  the 
Schools  church  schools.  A  notable  instance  is 
that  of  the  schools  started  by  Mr.  Charles  Slater, 
an  Englishman,  who  had  come  to  New  England 
to  set  up  spinning  frames.  He  established  a 
Sunday-school  for  his  employees  at  Pawtucket. 
There  was  also  a  school  for  the  employees  of 
spinning  mills  at  Paterson,  New  Jersey. 
^  The  adoption  of  the  Sunday-school  by  the 
church  and  the  recognition  of  this  school  as  an, 
Church  agency  or  department  of  the  church 
Schools        fQj.  ^jjg  religious  training  of  the  young 

was  the  most  important  step  in  the  development 
ir  of  the  Sunday-school. 

Such  a  conception  of  the  function  of  the  school 
was  almost  peculiar  to  America.  It  may  well  be 
called    the   American    Sunday-School    Idea.      It 


ADOPTION     OF     THE     SCHOOL  75 

meant  that  this  school  became,  not  a  temporary 
expedient  to  rescue  poor  and  ignorant  children, 
j^^  but  a  permanent  institution,   discharg- 

American  ing  a  definite  function  in  the  life  of  the 
^^^^  church.     It    involved    the  adoption   of 

the  plan  of  voluntary,  unpaid  teachers  and  the 
principle  of  voluntary,  state-free  support  for  its 
work.  The  church  gave  the  school  the  soil  in 
which  it  might  grow  to  usefulness.  The  school 
met  a  real  need  in  the  life  of  the  church,  the  need 
of  a  specific  agency  or  form  of  organization  for 
the  nurture  of  the  young  in  the  religious  life.  It 
also  became  a  definite  department  of  the  church, 
suited  to  the  life  and  needs  of  the  child.  It 
became  an  institution  in  which  the  child  might 
find  normal  relationship  with  the  church  and 
might  receive  the  direction,  stimulus,  and  instruc- 
tion it  needed. 

During  the  nineteenth  century  the  Sunday- 
schools  of  Great  Britain  became  more  religious 
In  Great  in  character,  the  Bible  came  to  have  the 
Britain  principal,  and  at  length  generally,  the 
only  place  in  the  curriculum.  Under  those 
circumstances  it  was  only  natural  that  the  school 
should  gravitate  toward  the  church.  By  the  end 
of  the  century  nearly  all  met  in  buildings  attached 
to  churches.  There  are  still,  however,  a  number 
of  Sunday-schools  remaining,  especially  in  the 
Black  Country,  the  northern  manufacturing  dis- 


76   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

trict  of  England,  which  meet  in  pubhc  halls  or 

in  other  hired  rooms.     Some  of  them  are  attended 

by  hundreds  of  youths  and  men.     The  elements 

of   an   ordinary    education    are    given    by    paid 

teachers.     Frequently  there  are  also  moral  and 

religious  lessons,  sometimes  a  general  lecture  or 

address  on  a  religious  subject.     They  constitute 

the    only    educational    opportunities    for    large 

numbers. 

The  schools  that  meet  in  churches  in   Great 

Britain  seldom  can  be  regarded  as  integral  parts 

of   the   churches.     Their   expenses   are 

Schools        not  included  in  church  budgets.     Their 

^^    ,         officers  are  not  elected  by  the  church 
Churches  *^     . 

boards  or  by  the  congregations.  The 
pastors  seldom  attend,  save  by  invitation  to  make 
the  closing  address  in  the  afternoon.  They  are 
not  guided  or  aided  by  denominational  societies 
or  officers.  With  some  rare  exceptions  they  are 
church  schools  only  to  the  degree  that  they  meet 
in  church  buildings. 

The  Sunday-school  has  never  been  the  same  kind 
of  institution  in  England  as  in   America.     The 

differences  are  due  to  several  facts, 
and^  The    English    school    was    organically 

American     connected    with    the    work    of    Robert 
Schools  .  1  1      \ 

Raikes.      It     was     born     outside     the  ^ 

churches    and    continued    to    exist    largely    inde- 
pendently of  them.     It  was  organized  for  philan- 


ADOPTION     OF     THE     SCHOOL  77 

thropic  purposes,  particularly  to  teach  the  rudi-  v 
ments  of  an  education.  The  American  school  was  ' 
born  in  the  church.  It  began  when  the  church 
was  obliged  to  take  up  the  special  task  of  the 
religious  education  of  the  young.  The  English--  t- 
people  did  not  feel  at  any  time  during  the  nine- 
teenth century  or  prior  to  that  the  deep  need  for 
separate  schools  of  religion.  Religious  subjects 
were  taught  daily  in  all  schools.  The  great 
public  schools  for  the  upper  classes  were  on 
religious  foundations.  In  America  the  principles 
of  religious  freedom  forbade  the  teaching  of 
religion  in  state  institutions.  The  duty  of  the 
religious  education  of  the  young  was  thrust  on 
every  church.  Besides  this,  in  England  the  con-'^ 
ception  of  free  universal  elementary  education 
developed  much  later  than  in  America.  In  the 
latter  country  the  Sunday-school  has  developed 
under  the  stimulus  of  popular  educational  ideals. 
The  American  school  is  in  part  the  result  of  the 
apparent  disadvantages  and  the  real  limitations 
of  our  system  of  free  public  education.  The 
school  has  here  attained  a  place  of  large  religious 
and  social  importance  because,  under  religious 
freedom  in  the  state,  the  teaching  of  religion  must 
be  left  to  voluntary  institutions. 

The  adoption  of  the  school  by  the  church  in 
North  America  is  easily  traced:  (1)  in  the  case 
of  schools  organized  by  churches  before  1780  and 


^ 


78   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

about  that  time;  (2)  in  the  fact  that  when  the 
influence  of  the  Raikes  movement  crossed  the 
Adopting  Atlantic  the  schools  were  organized  in 
t  e  c  00  ciiurches;  (3)  in  the  special  depart- 
ments and  oflScers  provided  by  the  denominations 
to  care  for  these  schools;  and  (4)  in  the  distinct 
differences  between  the  Sunday-schools  of  England 
and  those  of  North  America. 

The  adoption  of  the  Sunday-school  by  the 
church  marked  a  new  era  in  religious  history. 
A  Period  of  It  came  through  the  convergence  of 
New  Life  three  streams:  (1)  the  growing  recog- 
nition on  the  part  of  the  churches  of  their 
duty  to  instruct  the  child  and  to  train  youth  in 
the  religious  life;  (2)  the  organization  by  Robert 
Raikes  of  special  institutions  for  the  instruction 
of  children  on  Sunday;  and  (3)  the  recognition 
by  Christian  people  of  the  deplorable  spiritual 
destitution  of  their  times. 

Besides  the  Sunday-school  two  other  highly 
important  results  came  from  these  converging 
Important  influences:  (1)  the  new  institutions 
By-products  £qj,  ^j^^  instruction  of  the  young  ad- 
mitted the  services  of  lay  workers  and  thus  set 
free  the  pent-up  powers  of  lay  service  and  zeal; 
(2)  the  recognition  of  deep  and  widespread 
religious  need  led,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  to  a  remarkable  outburst  of  missionary 
^eal,  expressing  itself  in  the  organization  of  the 


ADOPTION    OF    THE    SCHOOL  79 

great  Foreign  Missionary  Societies  (Baptist,  1792; 
London,  1796;  Scottish,  1796;  Church  of  Eng- 
land, 1799)  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
1804;  The  American  Bible  Society,  1816;  and  The 
Religious  Tract  Society,  1799, 


VII 

DEVELOPMENT   THROUGH 
ORGANIZATIONS 

The  eighteenth  century  closed  in  the  glow  of 
a  splendid  ardor  for  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ.  It  expressed  itself  in  a  number  of 
great  organizations  for  missionary  work.  The 
Sunday-school  had  its  share  in  the  benefits  arising 
from  the  general  awakening.  This  new  agency 
for  religious  education  was  speedily  fostered  by 
special  organizations.  The  first  was  The  Society 
for  Promoting  Sunday  Schools  Through  the 
British  Dominions,  created  to  extend  the  Raikes 
type  of  schools.  Its  useful  work  continued  and 
prospered,  so  that  when  the  founder  died  in  1811 
the  number  of  pupils  through  the  British  Domin- 
ions and  in  the  United  States  was  estimated  at 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

The  organization  of  the  First-Day  or  Sunday 
School  Society  in  Philadelphia  in  1791  has  already 
been  described.  Its  operations  have  always  been 
quite  local  in  extent.  For  many  years  it  was 
occupied    with    securing    funds    to    compensate 

80 


DEVELOPMENT  81 

teachers,  and  when  the  system  of  paid  teaching 
fell  into  disuse  it  turned  its  attention  to  pur- 
chasing books  for  schools  in  Philadelphia  and 
suburbs. 

In  Great  Britain  Sunday-school  interests  have 
been  steadily  fostered  by  what  is  now  known  as 

The  British  Sunday  School  Union. 
Sunday-  The  union  was  organized  in  1803  as 
School         ^  result  of  the  suggestion  of  one  teacher 

to  another  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing 
to  get  together  and  compare  methods  of  work. 
It  began  with  the  holding  of  quarterly  meetings 
for  teachers.  Later  it  was  extended  to  a  cam- 
paign for  the  establishment  of  a  school  in  con- 
nection with  every  church.  Then  followed  the 
publication  of  certain  handbooks  on  Sunday- 
schools  and  their  work.  Ten  years  after  the 
organization  of  the  union  it  began  to  publish  a 
periodical  for  teachers  and  two  years  later  a 
monthly  paper  for  pupils.  These  publications 
were  not  lesson  helps,  but  papers  intended  for 
general  reading.  In  1840  the  first  schemes  of 
lessons  for  the  Sundays  of  that  year  were  sent 
out,  two  series  being  arranged,  one  for  the  morn- 
ing sessions  of  the  schools  and  another  for  the 
afternoon.  The  English  schools  early  adopted 
the  custom,  to  which  the  greater  number  of 
schools  still  cling,  of  having  two  lessons  and  two 
sessions  of  the  school.     When  the  International 


82   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Uniform  Lesson  plan  was  adopted,  this  lesson  was 
generally  accepted  for  the  afternoon  schools.  The 
British  schools  still  have  another  series  for  the 
morning  sessions.  During  recent  years  the  British 
Sunday  School  Union  has  given  its  principal 
attention  to  the  creation  of  literature  suitable 
for  the  use  of  schools.  It  has  fostered  the  organ- 
ization of  new  schools  and  the  training  of  teachers, 
especially  in  wider  biblical  knowledge,  by  lectures, 
institutes,  and  special  courses  with  examinations. 
It  extends  its  work  through  Sunday-school  mis- 
sions in  foreign  lands.  It  supports  the  work  of 
organized  Young  People's  Societies  and  Bands 
of  Hope  or  temperance  societies.  It  gave  birth 
to  the  International  Bible  Readers'  Association, 
now  enrolling  over  three-quarters  of  a  million 
members.  The  union  possesses  a  valuable  plant 
and  maintains,  beside  its  splendid  building  in 
London,  hospitals  and  a  sanitarium  for  children, 
and  a  Home  of  Rest  for  women  teachers  in  the 
Sunday-schools. 

The  American  Sunday  School  Union  is  another 
by-product  of  the  missionary  awakening  at  the 

end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
Sunday-  Reverend  Robert  May,  a  missionary 
School         ^f  ^j^g  London  Missionary  Society,  on 

his  way  to  India  in  1811,  stopped  at 
Philadelphia  and  awakened  much  interest  by 
his  accounts  of  Sunday-school   organizations  in 


DEVELOPMENT  83 

England.  As  a  result  of  that  visit  a  number  of 
organizations  sprang  up  in  this  country.  In 
1817  nearly  all  these  were  brought  together  in 
what  was  called  "The  Sunday  and  Adult  School 
Union."  Other  unions  came  into  existence  in 
other  cities.  In  1820  the  New  York  Union  pro- 
posed a  general  organization  for  the  United  States. 
The  matter  was  considered  in  two  large  meetings 
of  delegates  from  several  unions.  Some  came 
from  the  Pittsburg  Union,  organized  in  1809  and, 
although  then  in  the  far  West,  the  largest  in  the 
country.  At  the  second  meeting,  on  May  25, 
1824,  the  American  Sunday  School  Union  was 
organized.  It  was  a  union  in  fact,  for  it  repre- 
sented the  affiliation  of  a  number  of  existing  or- 
ganizations and  was  created  by  representatives  of 
a  number  of  denominations.  It  gave  its  atten- 
tion to  three  lines  of  endeavor:  (1)  the  publica- 
tion of  suitable  literature  for  Sunday-schools; 
(2)  the  selection  of  scriptural  lessons  and  the 
preparation  of  lesson  materials;  and  (3)  the 
organization  and  maintenance  of  schools  in 
needy  places.  It  is  still  active  and  successful 
in  the  first  and  the  last  of  these  purposes.  It 
reports  having  organized  over  one  hundred  thou- 
sand schools  and  having  published  books  and 
papers  to  a  value  of  over  nine  million  dollars. 

Some  of   the  chapters   in   the  history   of  the 
missionary   work   of   the   Sunday   School   Union 


84   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

deserve  a  more  elaborate  recital  than  can  be 
given  here.     The  work    and  adventures  of  men 

like  Stephen  Paxson,  in  the  Mississippi 
in  the  Valley,  belong  to  the  romance  of  mod- 

Mississippi  gpn  missions.  Suffice  to  say  that  in  1829 
Valley 

the  Union  began  its  work  in  what  was 

then  the  far  West.  It  established  headquarters 
in  the  village  of  Cincinnati  and  in  1830  began  a 
systematic  campaign  for  the  establishment  of 
schools  through  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Large 
sums  of  money  were  raised  for  the  enterprise  and 
missionaries  went  out,  receiving  the  princely 
remuneration  of  one  dollar  for  every  day  of  actual 
work.  At  the  end  of  two  years  seventy-eight 
missionaries  had  organized  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  schools  in  the  region 
which  was  the  object  of  this  special  endeavor.  To- 
day where  flourishing  cities  and  prosperous  villages 
dot  those  smiling  prairies  and  rolling  lands  look 
up  toward  the  mountains,  the  schools  organized 
in  rude  huts,  log  cabins,  and  sod  houses  have 
become  substantial  churches.  They  are  centers 
of  wide  influence  and  agencies  for  yet  further 
missionary  work.  The  missionaries  of  the  Union 
are  still  founding  and  fostering  new  schools  in 
the  frontier  sections,  as  in  Montana,  Nevada, 
New  Mexico,  and  also  in  states  where  there  are 
unsettled  portions  as  in  Kansas  and  Oklahoma. 
The    Union    works    principally    in    the    smaller 


DEVELOPMENT  85 

villages  and  the  rural  districts.  It  is  said  to  be 
organizing  schools  at  the  rate  of  three  a  day. 
Those  who  travel  through  the  sparsely  settled 
portions  of  the  Southern  and  Western  states  and 
who  know  the  conditions  of  living  there  know, 
too,  how  welcome  are  those  who  will  establish 
any  kind  of  religious  agency  in  the  lonely  little 
schoolhouses  on  the  plains  and  amongst  the 
mountains.  The  history  of  many  a  strong  church 
is  just  beginning  today  in  some  remote  mining 
camp  where  a  little  Sunday-school  is  being  or- 
ganized. Often  the  work  begins  in  the  public 
schoolhouse;  sometimes,  as  the  writer  knows, 
in  a  barn  or  even  a  saloon.  In  a  few  months  the 
residents  send  for  a  preacher  to  come  occasionally 
from  the  near-by  city.  In  a  few  years  the  school 
will  be  a  church  with  its  own  school  and  its 
outlying  stations  in  other  mining  camps. 

As  soon  as  the  Sunday-school  was  recognized 
in  America  as  the  child  of  the  church,  the  de- 
nominations began  to  foster  its  develop- 
tionai  '  ment.  At  first  the  school  received  no 
i^h^To  special  or  separate  emphasis,  being 
ganizations  regarded  as  a  regular  part  of  the  whole 
work  of  the  church.  Suitable  resolu- 
tions would  be  passed  concerning  it  at  the  con- 
ventions and  conferences  of  the  denominations. 
It  was  treated  as,  for  example,  the  service  of 
worship  is  now,  as  so  much  a  part  of  the  work 


86   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

of  the  church  as  to  require  no  special  organiza- 
tion for  itself.  In  time  it  became  evident  that 
the  school  needed  those  who  would  devote  them- 
selves entirely  to  its  work.  Men  saw  that,  if 
Sunday-schools  were  to  be  really  efficient,  they 
must  be  no  longer  either  accidents  or  incidents  in 
the  work  of  the  church;  they  must  be  especially 
organized  for  specific  purposes  and  must  receive 
the  undivided  attention  of  capable  persons. 

The  recognition  of  the  need  of  special  organiza- 
tions for  the  promotion  of  Sunday-school  work 
Specializa-  and  for  the  development  of  the  school 
tion  |3y  ii^Q  denominations  was  an  important 

step  toward  the  modern  Sunday-school.  It  led 
to  the  conception,  now  generally  accepted,  of  the 
school  as  a  special  agency  in  the  church,  an  edu- 
cational institution  requiring  a  type  of  work 
unlike  that  in  any  other  department  of  the  church. 

The  denominational  Sunday-school  organiza- 
tions developed  slowly.  They  grew  out  of  the 
Denomina-  ^^^^^  organizations  fostered  by  the 
tional  American    Sunday    School    Union.     A 

Beginnings  ^^^^  example  is  that  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Society  organized  out  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Sunday  School  Union  in  1832.  At  first  the 
denominations  carried  on  their  Sunday-school 
work  under  their  boards  of  publication.  Later 
the  tendency  was  to  commit  the  work  of  the 
Sunday-school    to    special   boards   organized   for 


DEVELOPMENT  87 

purposes  of  religious  education.  The  Sunday 
School  Union  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
is  a  good  example  of  the  later  form. 

Doubtless  we  must  give  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  the  credit  for  the  earliest 
Methodist  general  denominational  recognition  of 
Episcopal  ^j^g  importance  of  the  Sunday-school. 
This  denomination  was  the  first  to  make  ofiicial 
provision  by  its  local  ccnferences  for  such  schools. 
Church  leaders,  such  as  Bishop  Asbury,  gave 
hearty  support  to  their  organizations.  In  1824 
the  General  Conference  of  the  Church  passed 
three  resolutions  providing:  (1)  that  the  itinerant 
preachers  should  establish  schools;  (2)  catechisms 
should  be  taught  in  them;  and  (3)  other  suitable 
books  should  be  provided.  Three  years  later, 
Jii_  Apxil,  1827,  the  Sunday  School  Union  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  with 
its  headquarters  in  New  York  City.  The  new 
organization  had  a  somewhat  insecure  tenure  on 
life,  however,  and  it  was  not  until  its  reorganiza- 
tion in  1840  that  it  began  its  career  of  valuable 
efficiency.  Since  then  its  usefulness  has  steadily 
grown  and  in  recent  years,  under  the  leadership 
of  Dr.  McFarland,  it  has  led  in  the  campaign  for 
the  effective  gradation  of  Sunday-school  material 
and  for  all  that  has  made  for  the  thorough  adop- 
tion of  educational  methods  in  the  schools. 

The  Unitarians  organized  their  Sunday  School 


88   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Society  in  the  same  year  and  month  as  the  Metho- 
dists (April,  1827).  While  this  society  has  stead- 
ily fostered  the  organization  of  schools 
in  the  churches,  its  most  notable  service 
has  been  in  the  direction  of  the  preparation  and 
publication  of  a  great  variety  of  graded  lessons. 
No  other  house  approaches  this  one  in  the  number 
of  series  of  lessons  for  the  Sunday-school,  and  the 
others  have  only  recently  attempted  to  adapt 
their  lessons  to  the  different  grades  of  pupils. 
For  pioneer  work  on  graded  lessons  the  honor 
surely  belongs  to  the  Unitarian  Society. 

As  long  as  the  Lutheran  Church  maintained  a 
system  of  parochial  schools  with  religious  instruc- 
tion on  week-days  the  need  for  Sunday-schools 
was  not  felt  as  keenly  as  by  other  de- 
nominations of  Protestants.  Neverthe- 
less, the  Lutheran  General  Council  organized  a 
Sunday  School  Union  as  early  as  1830.  A  re- 
markable wave  of  renewed  interest  in  the  Sunday- 
school  has  swept  over  this  church  in  the  first 
years  of  the  twentieth  century. 

The  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Pub- 
lishing Society  dates  back  at  least  to  1832,  when 
Congrega-  the  members  of  the  churches  of  that 
tional  denomination     separated,     by     mutual 

agreement,  from  their  union  with  the  Baptists  in 
Sunday-school  work  in  Massachusetts.  Since 
that  time   the   Congregational   agencies   for   the 


DEVELOPMENT  89 

development  of  the  Sunday-school  have  been 
increasingly  active  and  efficient.  Some  of  their 
best  early  work  was  done  in  the  organization  of 
new  schools  in  the  Western  states.  In  later  years 
they  have  given  especial  attention  to  the  publi- 
cation of  high-grade  lesson  material  and  to  co- 
operation in  all  movements  for  the  increase  of 
Sunday-school  efficiency  along  educational  lines. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  show  in  detail  how 
the  work  of  the  Baptists  has  developed,  both  in 
their  Northern  and  in  their  Southern 
Conventions.  As  early  as  1840  Sun- 
day-school work  was  distinctly  recognized  as 
part  of  the  business  of  their  Publication  Society. 
They  have  also  accomplished  a  good  work  in 
promoting  teacher-training.  They  were  the  pio- 
neers in  the  preparation  of  advanced  texts  for 
teachers  and  in  utilizing  the  Young  People's 
Society  for  religious  education.  The  Southern 
Baptist  Publication  Society  was  organized  in 
1847.  It  promoted  Sunday-schools  until,  in 
1857,  the  Southern  Baptist  Sunday  School  Union 
was  organized. 

The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  has 
always  fostered  Sunday-school  work.  In  1909 
Presby-  it  took  an  advance  step  toward  greater 
terian  usefulness    in    the    employment    of    an 

Educational  Secretary  for  Sunday-schools. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  great  de- 


90   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

nominations  of  Protestantism  in  the  United  States 

early  regarded    the  Sunday-school  as    distinctly 

^     ,    .       a    part  of    the   work   of  the   churches. 
Conclusions        ^. 

In  mcreasmg  measure  they  have  come 
to  see  that  these  schools  require  special  organiza- 
tions for  their  promotion  and  specially  trained 
workers  for  their  development.  They  acknowl- 
edge them  as  worthy  of  large  investments  of  the 
time  and  money  of  the  church.  The  denomina- 
tions hold  themselves  responsible  for  the  efficiency 
of  the  schools.  One  result  is  that  more  and  more 
the  Sunday-school  work  of  the  churches  is  being 
committed  to  men*  who  are  educational  experts; 
it  is  recognized  that  here  adequate  special  training 
is  required. 

It  is  a  sign  of  great  encouragement,  both  for 
the  future  of  the  Sunday-school  and  for  the  speedy 
union  of  the  whole  family  of  God,  that  the  many 
denominations  with  their  Sunday-school  boards 
have  been  able,  despite  many  serious  difficulties, 
despite  sometimes  apparent  conflict  of  interests, 
to  work  in  remarkable  harmony  with  one  another 
and  with  the  many  plans  of  the  International 
Sunday  School  Association. 


VIII 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

ASSOCIATION 

w  The  history  of  the  International  Sunday  School 
Association  from  1832  to  1887  is  written  wholly  in 
a  series  of  conventions.  From  1887  on  the  record 
includes  many  other  activities.  This  broadening 
of  functions  is  indicated  in  the  change  of  name 
in  1906  from  International  Sunday  School  Con- 
vention to  International  Sunday  School  Asso- 
ciation. Yet  those  first  ten  conventions,  even  to 
the  very  first  of  them  all,  clearly  foreshadowed 
the  field  in  which  the  Association  would  work  and 
the  large  demand  for  its  existence.  The  Associa- 
tion was  born  in  the  desire  for  such  cooperation  of 
all  workers  and  agencies  as  would  make  for  the 
largest  eflSciency  of  all,  while  maintaining  the 
autonomy  of  each.  It  has  proceeded  steadily 
along  those  lines.  In  increasing  degree  and 
clearness  it  has  seen  its  field  defined  and  enlarged. 
It  has  grown  from  a  single  general  meeting  to 
an  organization  holding  thousands  of  conferences 
annually,  with  a  triennial  budget  of  about  $70,000 

91 


92   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

and  with  a  large  force  of  paid  workers.  Operat- 
ing in  closest  affiliation  with  it  are  organizations, 
with  paid  secretaries,  in  nearly  every  state  in  the 
Union.  For  the  promotion  of  Sunday-school 
work  the  International  Association  has  become 
in  a  large  measure  the  clearing  house  of  all  the 
churches,  the  agency  through  which  they  are 
unitedly  doing  many  things  which  separately 
would  involve  the  duplication  of  activities.  The 
field  of  the  Association  today  is  largely  that  of 
promotion,  inspiration,  and  of  securing  general 
cooperation. 

The  Convention  out  of  which  this  Association 
gradually  grew  was  called  by  the  officers  of  the 

„  .  .  American  Sunday  School  Union  in  a 
Beginnings  .  ,,,..,  r^^ 

meetmg    held    April    10,    1832.     They 

appointed  May  23  of  that  year  as  the  date  for  a 
general  gathering  of  all  persons  actually  engaged 
in  the  Sunday-schools  as  superintendents,  teachers, 
or  other  officers.  This  gathering  was  to  be  pre- 
liminary to  a  convention  which  was  proposed  for 
the  following  year. 

At  the  preliminary  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  date  set  it  was  determined,  by  the  ninety 
Preliminary  accredited  delegates  from  thirteen  of 
Gathering  j-j^^  then  twenty-four  states,  that  a  con- 
vention should  be  held  in  New  York  on  October  3 
of  that  year.  Plans  were  made  so  that  the 
delegates  at  that  convention    should   be   repre- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     ASSOCIATION      93 

sentatives  of  Sunday-school  associations  and 
unions,  rather  than  of  schools  or  churches 
directly.  Another  important  preparatory  step 
was  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  on  Interrog- 
atories, to  prepare  and  circulate  a  list  of  over 
seventy  questions  on  Sunday-school  problems  and 
methods. 

When  the  First  Convention  met  in  the  Chat- 
ham Street  Chapel,  New  York,  on  October  3, 
Firsf  1832,  out  of  the  twenty -five  thousand 

Convention  interrogatories  sent  out  replies  were  in 
hand  from  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  persons. 
There  were  present  two  hundred  and  twenty 
delegates  and  these  received  reports,  compiled 
from  the  answers  received  to  the  questionaires. 
One  of  the  important  matters  debated  at  that 
first  convention  was  in  regard  to  the  widening 
scope  of  the  Sunday-school.  Evidently  some 
thought  it  might  well  continue  to  be,  like  the 
Raikes  schools,  principally  for  destitute  children. 
But  a  resolution,  "That  the  Sunday-school  should 
embrace  all  classes  of  the  community,"  was  passed. 
This  is  the  first  official  recognition  of  the  school 
in  its  new  and  larger  significance  as  the  school 
of  religion  for  all. 

The  Second  Convention,  held  on  the  authority 
Second  of  the  First,  met  about  eight  months 
Convention  i^^^^j.    [^    jy^ay,    1833,    at    Philadelphia. 

The  convention  was  not  a  great  success  though 


94    EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

it  served  to  call  attention  to  certain  important 
matters,  the  need  for  a  general  effort  to  enroll 
children  in  the  schools,  the  possibilities  of  school 
in  jails  and  similar  institutions,  the  duties  of 
parents  in  the  religious  education  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  the  possibilities  of  Bible-study  groups 
meeting  in  homes. 

The  twenty-six  years  that  elapsed  before  another 
national  convention  was  held  were  not  all  lean 
A  Peri  d       ^^  barren  years.     Perhaps  the  time  had 

of  Smaller  not  yet  come  for  great  national  gather- 
Conventions    •  l_.J.l  .X  Jil  1  1 

mgs;  but  the  states  and  the  local 
associations  or  unions  were  going  on  with  their 
work.  The  splendid  work  of  the  American  Sun- 
day School  Union  was  finding  rich  fruitage  during 
these  years,  particularly  in  the  Middle  West. 
Several  states  held  large  and  important  Sunday- 
school  conventions,  as  in  Brooklyn  in  1856,  in 
Boston  a  little  later,  and  in  Albany  the  following 
year.  Many  trace  the  first  county  convention 
to  this  period,  when  Stephen  Paxson  called  a 
number  of  schools  together  for  a  two  days'  con- 
ference at  Winchester,  Illinois,  in  1840. 

The  Third  National  Convention,  held  in 
Philadelphia,  February  22  to  24,  1859,  seems 
Third  almost  unrelated  to  the  other  conven- 

National  tions.  First  impressions  suggest  that. 
Convention         »  . .  •      i  . 

so  tar  as  contmuous,  organized,  country- 
wide work  was  concerned  all  these  conventions 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     ASSOCIATION     95 

were  failures;  but  they  were  not.  They  were 
preparing  the  way  and  molding  the  opinion  of 
the  religious  world.  Moreover,  they  brought 
together  and  doubtless  contributed  greatly  to 
the  development  of  future  Sunday-school  leaders. 
Such  men  as  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  John  H.  ' 
Vincent,  and  B.  F.  Jacobs  came  to  the  front  in  ' 
these  gatherings  and  they  left  a  permanent  impress 
on  the  history  of  the  Sunday-school.  Trumbull 
was  the  secretary  of  this  convention,  preparing 
for  his  work  as  the  founder  of  Sunday-school 
journalism  of  the  modern  type.  John  H.  Vincent, 
father  of  the  Normal  Institute,  Summer  Assembly, 
and  Teacher-training  Movement,  and  B.  F.  Jacobs 
sponsor  for  the  Uniform  Lesson  and  marshal  of 
Sunday-school  forces  through  the  Middle  West 
are  each  the  builders  of  mile-stones  in  the  early 
Sunday-school  progress. 

Then  came  the  time  of  the  trying  of  men's  souls 
in  the  bitter  days  of  the  Civil  War.  The  Sunday- 
Fourth  school  leaders  were  with  the  armies. 
Convention  serving  in  the  hospitals,  and  in  the 
ranks.  When  the  war  was  over,  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  at  Detroit 
in  June,  1868,  the  Sunday-school  workers  gath- 
ered under  the  leadership  of  that  true  educator, 
Edward  Eggleston.  Arrangements  were  then  en- 
thusiastically made  for  a  general  convention  the 
next  year.      The   Fourth   National    Convention, 


96   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

April  28  to  30,  1869,  met  in  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
and  began  the  system  of  triennial  conventions 
which  has  since  been  continued  without  inter- 
ruption. Delegates  from  twenty-eight  states  and 
practically  all  the  English-speaking  world  struck 
the  note  of  universal  cooperation  which  was  to 
find  unusual  form  in  the  next  convention. 

The  Fifth  National  Convention  held  in  Indian- 
apolis, April  16  to  19,  1872,  marks  an  epoch 
Fifth  in  Sunday-school  history,  since  it  for- 

Convention  jy^ally  and  enthusiastically  adopted  the 
system  of  uniform  lessons.  One  other  step  in 
advance  was  the  appointment  of  a  national 
statistical  secretary,  foreshadowing  the  employ- 
ment of  several  secretaries  in  later  years. 

Each  succeeding  convention  has  made  some 
contribution  to  Sunday-school  progress  and  has 
First  Inter-3  marked  the  progress  which  many  schools 
national       ^^^^  j^^^^^  making.     The  next  triennial 

meeting,  held  in  Baltimore  in  1875,  was  also 
called  the  First  International  Convention,  because 
this  was  the  first  time  delegates  from  Canada 
received  ofiicial  recognition.  The  Convention 
of  1878,  held  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  marked  the 
establishment  of  Sunday-school  bonds  between 
North  and  South.  That  of  1881,  at  Toronto, 
saw  the  beginning  of  interdenominational  work 
and  the  promotion  of  home  classes.  The  Con- 
vention of  1884  made  possible  British  coopera- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     ASSOCIATION     97 

tion  with  the  Lesson  Committee  and  also  witnessed 
the  organization  of  a  Primary  Teacher's  Institute. 
The  speciaHzation  of  Primary  work  in  the  school 
led  to  the  organization  of  other  departments  and 
the  preparation  of  special  lessons  and  forms  of 
work  for  them. 

The  Fifth  International  (Tenth  National)  Con- 
vention was  held  in  Chicago  in  1887.  It  formally 
Home  recognized  the  Home  Department.  This 

Department  ^^g  g^^j^  j-q  ]jq  ^^  important  method 

of  extending  the  Sunday-school  into  homes  and 
of  reaching  those  who  were  prevented  from  attend- 
ing the  regular  sessions.  It  made  possible 
classes  and  private  study  of  the  lessons  by  shut- 
ins,  men  employed  on  Sunday,  and  those,  as  in 
mining-camps,  far  distant  from  the  schools.  While 
many  claim  the  credit  of  originating  the  Home 
Department,  the  first  man  to  promote  its  organiza- 
tion was  Dr.  W.  A.  Duncan,  a  Methodist  minister, 
who  began  his  work  in  that  direction  in  1881. 
In  a  few  years  home  classes  sprang  up  in  many 
parts  of  the  country  until  schools  were  obliged 
to  make  special  provision  for  these  correspond- 
ence pupils. 

The  Fifth  International  Convention  marks 
also  one  other  important  advance  step,  for  it 
Employed  provided  for  the  employment  of  a 
Officers  special  officer  to  care  for  its  work  in 
the  interim  between  conventions  and  to  act  as 


98   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

field  superintendent  and  organizer.  William  Rey- 
nolds, of  Illinois,  was  appointed  to  this  office 
after  the  Chicago  meeting  and  held  this  position 
until  1897.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1899,  at  the 
next  convention,  by  Mr.  Marion  Lawrance,  now 
(1911)  the  General  Secretary.  At  this  ninth 
convention  held  in  Atlanta  in  1899  other  secre- 
taries were  also  appointed,  including  a  field 
secretary  and  two  secretaries  for  work  in  the 
South  amongst  the  negroes. 

In  an  important  sense  the  appointment  of  these 
general  officers  inaugurated  the  era  of  greatest 
development  in  the  work  of  the  International 
Convention.  The  activities  which  they  were 
able  to  promote  made  necessary  the  organization 
of  an  Association  which  would  steadily  work, 
not  only  for  great  conventions,  but  for  the  promo- 
tion of  Sunday-school  interests  throughout  all 
the  year  and  all  over  the  country. 

Meanwhile  there  had  sprung  up,  under  the 
fostering  care  of  the  many  state  associations,  a 
^  ^  .,.        larcre  number  of  organizations  of  Sun- 

Subsidiary  ,  i  i 

Organiza-  day-school  workers,  and  soon  there 
*^^^^  were  enough  missionaries  and  secretaries 

employed  by  the  state  associations  to  organize 
themselves  into  Field  Workers'  Conferences.  The 
field  workers  conducted  institutes  and  conferences, 
taught  teachers'  classes,  delivered  public  ad- 
dresses, and  organized  departments  of  Sunday- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL     ASSOCIATION     99 

school  work  in  their  fields,  whether  cities,  counties, 
or  states.  These  state  associations  and  unions 
were  affihated  with  the  International  Association. 
They  raised  money  for  its  support  and  formed  sub- 
sidiary bodies  which  sent  the  delegates  from  their 
conventions  to  the  International  Convention.  ^ 

The  most  important  recent  developments  in 
the  history  of  the  organized  International  move- 
ment have  been:  (1)  the  thorough  organization 
of  a  standing  Executive  Committee,  nominated 
by  the  states  and  divisions  of  territory  and  elected 
by  the  convention,  to  carry  out  the  policies  of 
the  convention  and  to  direct  the  activities  of  all 
the  Association's  workers.  (2)  The  Lesson  Com- 
mittee, nominated  by  a  special  committee  and 
elected  by  the  convention,  consisting  of  represent- 
atives of  the  great  denominations  on  both  con- 
tinents, to  select  the  Scripture  portions  for  the 
uniform  lessons  and  to  outline  the  subjects  of 
study  and  the  lesson  material  for  the  graded 
lessons  (see  the  chapter  on  "Lessons").  (3) 
Departmental  Organization;  Primary,  Home, 
Field  Workers,  Education,  Adult,  Missionary, 
each  having  its  special  secretary  or  secretaries. 
The  six  field  workers  attend  institutes,  confer- 
ences, and  state  conventions  and  keep  in  close 
touch  with  all  the  field.  The  Educational  Secre- 
tary has  special  charge  of  the  promotion  of 
Teacher-training.     (4)  The  General  Secretary  has 


100  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

charge  of  all  the  field-work,  oversees  the  execution 

of  all  plans  of  work,  is  the  coordinating,  personal 

head  of  all  the  varied  activities. 

The  International  Sunday  School  Association 

has  played  a  highly  important  part  in  the  develop- 

o     .  ment  of  the  Sunday-school.     It  is  the 

Service  .  .     "^ 

of  the  organized  expression  of  the  great  force 

Association      poj  ii  ±.i^      '  i*u 

oi     bunday-school    enthusiasm,     which 

might  otherwise,  without  its  power  of  converging 
and  coordinating,  remain  separated  so  that  its 
energies  in  time  would  be  dissipated.  It  has  a 
focusing  function,  gathering  up  the  light  rays 
of  all  its  parts.  Therefore,  it  often  must  wait 
for  their  action.  As  an  organization  it  is  naturally 
conservative,  expressing  the  will  not  of  a  few 
leaders  but  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  workers. 
Yet  it  has  shown  possibilities  of  leadership. 
Under  the  direction  of  the  chairman  of  its  Execu- 
tive Committee,  Mr.  W.  N.  Hartshorn,  steps  of 
signal  importance  and  progress  have  been  taken, 
with  a  view  to  educating  workers  and  so  to  secure 
permanent  progress.  It  has  shown  elasticity  of 
response,  remarkable  for  so  large  a  movement, 
to  the  stimulus  of  other  movements  which  have 
sought  speedy  advance.  It  has,  under  such  stim- 
ulus, adopted  the  principle  of  graded  lessons,  recog- 
nized the  validity  of  educational  principles  in 
Sunday-school  work,  and  promoted  the  technical 
training  of  ministers  for  their  work  in  the  school. 


IX 


THE    STORY   OF   THE   LESSON   SYSTEM 

'A  SCHOOL  implies  lessons.  The  story  of  the 
development  of  courses  of  lessons  for  the  Sunday- 
school  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  in  all  the 
history  of  education.  This  is  so  principally  on 
account  of  the  uniformity  with  which  these  lessons, 
up  to  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  were 
confined  to  the  Bible  and  also  because  of  the 
means  by  which  improvement  in  the  use  of  that 
material  has  been  secured. 

In  the  schools  founded  by  Raikes  the  lessons 
were  in  the  rudiments  of  secular  education. 
Random  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic.  About 
Memori-  1785  Raikes  prepared  a  little  text-book 
called  "  Redinmadesy "  (Reading  Made 
Easy).  The  first  step  in  advance  came  a  few 
years  later  from  the  schools  in  the  churches  in  the 
United  States.  They  adopted  the  system  of  mem- 
orizing passages  of  the  Scriptures  and  selections 
from  the  various  catechisms.  A  large  number  of 
verses  were  memorized  either  by  pupils  at  home 
or  by  classes  repeating  them  in  concert.     It  is 

101 


102  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

said  that  as  many  as  three  hundred  passages 
were  sometimes  included  in  one  exercise.  Prizes 
were  offered  to  the  pupils  whose  minds  most 
easily  acquired  facility  in  this  practice. 

In  1810  Dr.  James  Gall,  of  Edinburgh,  pre- 
pared a  series  of  lessons  on  what  was  called  the 
Lessons  method  of  '* Nature's  Normal  School." 
Assigned  j^  consisted  of  short  Bible  stories  with 
explanations,  questions,  and  answers.  The  plan 
was  not  introduced  into  the  United  States  until 
about  1825.  At  that  time  the  American  Sunday 
School  Union  called  attention  to  this  plan  and 
to  various  other  improvements  which  had  been 
made  in  Sunday-school  lessons.  Dr.  Gall's  scheme 
was  formally  approved  by  the  New  York  Sunday 
School  Union.  The  plan  involved  the  selection 
of  specific  passages  or  stories  for  lessons  so  that, 
instead  of  the  teacher  or  pupil  studying  verses 
of  the  Bible  at  random  without  regard  to  context 
or  continuity,  a  definite  lesson  was  assigned. 
This  was  the  second  step  in  advance,  the  recog- 
nition of  an  assigned  lesson. 

In  1827  the  Reverend  Albert  Judson  issued  a 
series  of  questions  on  biblical  lessons,  announcing 
Connected  his  book  as  the  first  of  a  series  of  annual 
Lessons  lesson  courses.  His  plan  was  to  present 
the  principal  facts  of  the  Bible  in  a  series  of 
lessons  covering  five  years  and  providing  forty 
lessons  to  each  year.     In  the  same  year  the  Sun- 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   103 

day  School  Union  began  to  publish  its  notable 
series  of  Union  Question  Books.  The  Union  had 
already  adopted  the  working  principle  of  one 
lesson  for  the  whole  school.  It  urged  on  all 
schools  cooperating  with  it  that  they  should  for- 
sake the  loose  memoriter  system  and  follow  the 
courses  of  lessons  published  in  the  Sunday  School 
Journal.  The  Question  Books  were  somewhat 
more  than  the  name  would  imply,  for  they  con- 
tained notes,  explanations,  and  aids  for  teachers. 
Judson's  plan  and  that  of  the  Union  constituted 
the  next  step  forward  which  was  the  recognition 
of  the  possibility  of  a  connected  sequence  of 
lessons. 

During  the  next  forty  years  a  multitude  of 
lesson  schemes  and  text-books  were  introduced. 
"Babel"  So  many  and  so  diverse  were  they  that 
P^^^°^  this  has  been  called  the  ''Babel"  period 
of  Sunday-school  lessons.  The  denominations 
followed  the  lead  of  enterprising  private  individuals 
and  each  one  issued  its  own  series  of  lessons.  By 
1852  the  Unitarians  had  eight  graded  manuals 
in  use.  In  this  period  of  ferment  each  school 
worked  at  its  problem  in  pretty  much  its  own 
way.  Many  experiments  were  tried  and,  uncon- 
sciously, preparations  were  made  for  a  better  day. 

After  the  Civil  War  certain  great  leaders  ap- 
peared who  gave  their  energies  to  the  improvement 
of  lesson  schemes.     One  of   these   was   Edward 


L^ 


104  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Eggleston,  editor  of  the  National  Sunday  School 
Teacher,  published  in  Chicago.  His  splendid 
Leaders  genius  made  his  paper  and  particularly 
in  the  '60s  ]^jg  lessons  known  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  country.  His  broad  and  vigorous 
work  paved  the  way  for  the  Uniform  Lesson  plan 
conceived  by  his  friend,  B.  F.  Jacobs.  Yet 
Eggleston  was  a  vigorous  opponent  of  the  plan  of 
uniformity,  believing  it  pedagogically  unsound. 
John  H.  Vincent,  another  Sunday-school  giant 
of  Chicago,  in  1866  began  the  publication  of  a 
paper  called  the  Sunday  School  Teacher.  In  this 
he  issued  a  series  of  lessons  entitled  "Two  Years 
with  Jesus."  In  1868  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs  began  in 
the  Standard,  a  Baptist  weekly  paper,  the  publi- 
cation of  notes  on  the  Eggleston  lessons.  The 
Standard  was  the  first  paper  to  print  notes  on  the 
lessons.  Jacobs  labored  and  argued  for  one 
lesson  for  all  the  classes  in  each  school,  one  lesson 
for  all  schools,  and  the  publication  of  notes  on  the 
lessons  in  every  possible  magazine  and  paper. 
The  enlistment  of  the  periodical  press  in  publish-  ^ 
ing  the  courses  of  study  constituted  yet  another 
step  forward. 

When  the  Fourth  National  Sunday-school  Con- 
vention met  in  1869  several  important  steps  in 
Steps  of  the  development  of  the  lesson  had  been 
Progress  taken.  It  was  recognized:  (1)  that  the 
task  of  the  school  was  to  teach,  and  that  it  must 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   105 

not  be  confined  to  the  gathering  of  groups  of 
children  for  the  memorizing  of  the  Bible  or  for 
catechetical  work;  (2)  that  definite,  assigned, 
selected   lessons   should   be   followed   in   schools; 

(3)  that  these  lessons  should  be  arranged  in  series 
so  that  there  could  be  some  semblance  of  progress 
at  least  through  the  books  that  were  being  studied ; 

(4)  that  large  numbers  of  schools  could  very  well 
study  the  same  lesson,  instead  of  allowing  each 
school  to  spend  its  energy  in  preparing  its  own 
lessons  and  working  up  the  materials  for  them; 

(5)  that  the  aid  of  the  press  might  be  enlisted  for 
the  purpose  of  popularizing  these  lessons  and 
placing  the  material  for  general  preparation  where 
it  would  be  of  easy  access  to  almost  all  students 
and  teachers;  and  (6)  the  scheme  had  been  con- 
ceived of  the  single  lesson  for  all  schools  and  all 
students. 

r~  The  credit  for  strenuous  advocacy  of  the  single 

[  lesson  belongs  to  both  B.  F.  Jacobs  and  John  H. 

pjj.g^  Vincent.     No  one  can  decide  to  whom 

Committee    belongs  the  priority,  for  each  worked 

on  Lessons    .        ,  .  xr*  a     t_    j     ii. 

m    his    own    way.     Vmcent    had    the 

scholar's  vision  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  bibli- 
cal student;  Jacobs  had  the  vigor  of  the  business 
man  and  the  ardor  of  a  promoter.  As  a  result 
of  their  labors  the  convention  of  1869,  through 
its  department  of  superintendents,  endorsed  the 
Uniform  Lesson  plan  and  appointed  a  committee 


106  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

to  prepare  further  plans.  Henry  Clay  Trumbull 
was  the  chairman  of  that  committee.  A  con- 
ference of  representatives  of  Sunday-school  pub- 
lications was  called  by  this  committee  and  met  in 
New  York  in  August,  1871.  By  a  vote  of  twenty- 
six  to  three  they  decided  in  favor  of  the  uniform 
lesson  scheme  and  began  to  plan  courses  for  the 
next  year.  A  committee  consisting  of  Jacobs, 
Vincent,  Eggleston,  Newton,  and  McCook  took 
charge  of  this  work.  After  discussing  several 
proposed  bases  for  the  lessons,  such  as  doctrines, 
duties,  and  the  Church  Year,  it  was  decided  to 
make  the  Bible  the  basis.  This  meant  that  the 
selection  of  the  lessons  should  be  with  the  view 
of  securing  the  orderly,  systematic  study  of  the 
Scriptures. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  National  Convention  in 

Indianapolis  in  1872  it  was  voted  to  appoint  a 

committee  of  five  clergymen   and  five 

Regular        laymen  to  select  a  series  of  lessons  for 

Lesson         ^  period  not  exceeding  seven  years.     It 
Committee         '■  i  i 

was  also  decided  by  the  same  resolu- 
tion, despite  the  vigorous  opposition  of  the 
trained  pedagogue,  Eggleston,  that  the  adoption 
of  these  lessons  be  recommended  to  all  the  schools 
of  the  country.  The  Lesson  Committee  was 
duly  appointed  and  at  certain  intervals  the  life 
of  this  committee  has  been  continued  by  the 
acts  of  the  national  convention.     From  the  begin- 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   107 

ning  certain  members  have  been  appointed  to 
represent  the  British  schools,  and  since  1884  there 
has  been  a  cooperating  section  of  the  committee 
known  as  the  British  section.  For  thirty  years 
the  uniform  lesson  was  generally  in  use  in  nearly 
all  Sunday-schools  through  the  world. 

Whatever  we  may  think  today  of  the  educa- 
tional merits  of  the  plan  of  Uniform  Lessons,  it 
Service  of  remains  true  that  such  a  plan  was  almost 
Uniform  inevitable  at  some  time  and  that  it 
served  a  highly  important  and  useful 
purpose  in  the  development  of  the  lessons  for  the 
schools.  It  made  possible  the  cooperation  of  all  t^ 
denominational  and  private  enterprises  for  pub- 
lication and  circulation  toward  one  end,  that 
these  lessons  should  be  within  the  financial  and 
intellectual  reach  of  every  pupil  in  every  school. 
It  made  possible  the  concentration  of  all  the*^ 
energies  of  all  the  schools  upon  a  single  lesson 
plan,  so  that  the  conception  of  the  school  as  a 
definite  teaching  agency  became  fixed  beyond  any 
doubt  or  question.  It  secured  the  concentration^ 
of  Sunday-school  leadership  and  to  some  extent 
of  biblical  scholarship  on  the  selection  of  the 
material  for  the  lessons  and,  more  particularly, 
on  the  preparation  of  comments  and  other  aids 
for  teachers.  It  revealed  gradually  the  pedagogi-  ^ 
cal  necessities  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher.  It 
enabled  us  to  see,  in  a  clear  light,  free  from  the 


108  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

confusion  of  many  lessons,  precisely  what  were 
the  conditions  of  teaching  in  each  school  and 
what  were  the  requirements  of  the  pupils.  At 
length  it  brought  into  clear  relief,  so  sharp  that 
we  could  not  blind  ourselves  to  it,  the  necessity 
for  a  plan  of  lessons  based  on  the  developing 
natures  and  needs  of  those  who  were  being 
instructed. 

Yet  no  student  of  the  history  of  the  Sunday- 
school  can  regard  without  regret  the  long  period 
^jjg  of  the  dominance  of  the  uniform  lesson 

Delusion  of  plan,  from  1870  to  1908.     Only  infatua- 
ni  ormi  y    ^.^^  ^^^  business  uniformity  blinded  the 

leaders  to  the  wisdom  of  the  simple  plans  of 
adaptation  suggested  by  the  teacher  Eggleston. 
The  scheme  of  a  common  lesson  was  captivating; 
it  would  have  been  sublime  if  it  had  gone  one 
step  farther  and  planned  a  uniform  series  suited 
to  all  ages.  The  insistent  confining  of  the  teach- 
ing work  of  the  school  to  the  rigid  lines  of  mechan- 
ical, business  uniformity  seriously  retarded  its 
educational  development.  A  school  has  never 
been  successfully  conducted  on  the  plan  of  a 
factory.  Those  forty  years  were  not  wholly  lost 
in  the  desert,  but  they  were  largely  years  of 
educational  wandering  or  rather  standing  still 
when  the  school  ought  to  have  gone  forward. 

An  examination  of  the  biblical  material  actually 
used   during   thirty-three   years   in   the   uniform 


1/ 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   109 

lessons  series  reveals  some  startling  facts.  It 
shows,  first,  that  the  scheme  did  not  fulfil  one  of 
The  Bible  its  most  important  promises,  to  guide 
Not  Studied  ^yery  student  through  a  comprehensive 
study  of  the  Bible  in  a  period  of  seven  years. 
Although  nearly  five  such  periods  elapsed,  the 
lessons  were  chosen  so  much  at  random  that  large 
portions  of  the  Bible  never  were  studied  at  all. 
For  instance,  during  the  thirty-three  years  only 
thirty-one  out  of  the  fifty  chapters  in  Genesis 
were  studied.  Valuable  material  was  strangely 
slighted  in  all  the  books.  Only  seventeen  Psalms 
were  used,  and  only  two  chapters  in  I  Chronicles. 
In  the  New  Testament  there  were  equally  striking 
omissions,  so  that  students  remained  in  ignorance 
of  events  essential  to  an  understanding  of  the 
history  involved.  It  is  not  strange  that  there 
was  much  popular  ignorance  of  the  Bible  when 
the  Sunday-school  thus  officially  cut  the  book  to 
pieces.  Neither  is  it  strange  that  many  who 
received  their  biblical  instruction  under  this 
system  think  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  patchwork  of 
unrelated  texts. 

The  system  of  uniform  lessons  broke  down  also 
by  an  utter  disregard  of  relative  values  in  the 
Values  biblical  material.  This  is  suggested 
Disregarded  Ijj  the  following  comparisons,  drawn 
from  the  list  of  lessons  for  thirty-three  years; 
five   lessons   on   the   Beatitudes   compared    with 


110  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

twenty-one  lessons  on  the  tabernacle  and  its 
ceremonies;  the  "Golden  Rule"  was  used  in 
three  lessons,  the  story  of  Cain  and  Abel  in  four. 
The  beautiful  Ruth  story  was  never  treated  in 
its  entirety  but  was  touched  on  five  times,  while 
there  were  fourteen  lessons  from  Leviticus  and 
six  from  Romans  xiii.  There  are  forty  lessons 
from  the  bloody  book  of  Joshua  and  thirty-one 
from  the  book  of  Isaiah.  In  thirty-three  years 
there  were  five  lessons  from  Amos  and  one  each 
from  Joel,  Micah,  and  Nahum.  As  an  attempt 
to  get  the  best  and  the  most  out  of  the  Bible  the 
system  could  hardly  be  called  a  success.  Such 
facts  as  the  foregoing,  though  seldom  expressed 
in  this  form,  account  for  much  of  the  grow- 
ing dissatisfaction  with  the  uniform  lesson 
system. 

The  third  and  most  serious  failure  in  the  uni- 
form lesson  scheme  was  inherent  in  the  very 
The  Child  principle  of  uniformity;  it  was  impossi- 
Ignored  {^j^  ^q  select  lessons  which  met  equally 
well  the  needs  of  children  of  five,  youths  of  fifteen, 
and  men  of  thirty-five. 

No  study  of  the  Sunday-school,  however,  would 
be  adequate  in  any  sense  which  failed  to  note  that 
Benefits  the  uniform  lesson  plan  was  a  wide- 
Received  spread,  long-continued  campaign  for 
the  popular  study  of  biblical  literature.  Unfor- 
tunately the  perplexing  problems  of  an  adequate 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   111 

and  graded  curriculum  were  persistently  ignored. 

But  there  are  advantages  in  the  fact  that  they 

were   deferred   to  a  period  which,  by  virtue    of 

the   experience   gained,    was   better   prepared    to 

deal  with  them. 

At  no  time  has  the  principle  of  uniformity  in 

Sunday-school  lessons  been  universally  adopted. 

Many    schools    in    Great    Britain    con- 
Departures   ,.1,1.  «    , 
from  the       tmued    their    own    courses    ot    lessons. 

Uniform       ^^j^j  g^jj  ^^^  schools  there  maintained  a 

Plan 

separate  scheme  of  lessons  for  the 
second  school  session.  The  common  practice 
has  been,  to  follow  the  uniform  lesson  in  the 
afternoon  schools,  while  the  morning  schools 
followed  lessons  in  that  Testament  which  was  not 
being  studied  in  the  uniform  series. 

The  Unitarian  schools  in  the  United  States 
hardly  ever  adopted  the  uniform  lessons.  Their 
Sunday-school  society  worked  steadily  to  develop 
a  scheme  of  lessons  which  should  include  all  the 
Unitarian  range  of  religious  knowledge  and  which 
Courses  would  be  adapted  in  some  degree  to  the 
needs  of  the  pupils.  The  lesson  courses  included 
material  outside  the  Bible,  such  as  Ethics,  Church 
history.  Heroes  of  History,  the  study  of  the 
great  hymns,  and  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
their  churches. 

In  1874  the  Joint  Diocesan  Commission  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  was  appointed   to 


112  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

prepare  suitable  lessons  for  the  schools  of  that 
church.  The  general  plan  was  somewhat  like 
that  of  the  International  Lesson  Committee, 
Episcopal  but  it  has  worked  with  greater  flexibil- 
Courses       j^y  gQ  ^j^g^^  j^  time  the  Episcopal  Church 

has  built  up  an  elaborate  series  of  lessons  and 
studies  with  suitable  handbooks  on  almost  every 
department  of  Christian  knowledge.  Under  the 
leadership  of  some  who  have  given  special  atten- 
tion to  the  needs  of  the  Sunday-school,  such  as 
the  Reverend  Lester  Bradner  and  the  Reverend 
Pascal  Harrower,  a  highly  valuable  contribution 
has  been  made  to  the  development  of  the  curric- 
ulum of  the  Sunday-school  and  sound  principles 
in  pedagogy  have  been  followed  as  far  as  circum- 
stances permitted.  The  New  York  Diocesan 
Commission  led  the  way  with  a  graded  curriculum. 
The  spread  of  diocesan  Sunday-school  commis- 
sions and  organizations  went  on  rapidly  in  the 
Joint  Episcopal    Church.    At    one    time    it 

Diocesan       seemed  quite  likely  that  many  of  these 

Commission  .     •  i  i         .    <>      .  i     •     i 

commissions  would  put  forth  indepen- 
dent curricula  and  so  contribute  to  the  general 
confusion.  But  the  Joint  Commission  reporting 
to  the  church  convention  of  1907  laid  down  cer- 
tain principles  which  have  been  closely  followed 
by  the  various  commissions  since  that  day. 
Later  the  official  curriculum  of  the  Sunday  School 
Federation   was   adopted   by  a  majority   of  the 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM    113 

diocesan  organizations.^  The  General  Board  of 
Religious  Education  appointed  by  the  General 
Convention  of  the  church  in  October,  1910,  are 
now  vested  with  full  authority  and  are  working 
for  further  uniformity. 

The  Friends,  or  Quakers,  particularly  those 
of  the  Hicksite  branch,  have  developed  indepen- 
Other  dent  lesson  systems.     These  include  a 

Courses  broad  range  of  subjects,  notably  lessons 
on  organized  charity,  social  duties,  and  ethics. 
The  Lutheran  schools,  while  often  adopting  the 
International  lessons,  have  also  prepared  lessons 
of  their  own,  particularly  those  on  the  catechisms 
of  their  church.  Naturally  the  Hebrew  schools 
and  those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  have 
their  own  plans  of  lessons. 

The  divergent  lesson  schemes  mentioned  above, 
however,  were  usually  the  result  of  aims  or 
Q, .  ,.  methods  of  organization  peculiar  to 
and  these  denominations.     But  it  was  not 

n  icism  j^^^  after  the  general  adoption  of  the 
uniform  lesson  plan  that  criticism  began  to  arise. 
Heard  only  occasionally  at  first  it  gradually  grew 
in  volume  and  significance.  It  is  not  possible 
to  review  the  various  objections  here;  ^  suflSce  it 

*  For  an  account  of  the  plan  and  curriculum  of  the  Joint  Com- 
mission see  article  by  Pascal  Harrow er  in  Religious  Education  for 
June,  1910. 

^  See  for  a  full  and  authoritative  presentation  of  these  reasons 


114  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

to  say  that  the  most  serious  objection,  the  one 
that  at  last  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  ideal 
of  absolute  uniformity,  was  that  it  was  educa- 
tionally unsound  in  that  it  disregarded  absolutely 
the  varying  needs  of  the  pupils;  it  compelled  the 
little  child  to  study  the  same  lesson  material  as 
the  mature  and  experienced  adult;  it  meant 
either  meat  for  both  men  and  babes  or  milk  for 
both.  The  gradual  recognition  of  the  educational 
function  of  the  Sunday-school  and  the  consequent 
necessary  adoption  of  educational  principles  of 
operation  and  of  selection  and  preparation  of 
lesson  material  compelled  all  serious-minded  per- 
sons to  reconsider  the  merits  of  the  ideal  of  one 
lesson  for  all  schools  and  for  all  students. 

One  other  objection  to  the  uniform  lesson  led 
to    several    interesting    experiments    in    Sunday- 
school    curricula.     It   was   urged   that 
—  Sup^e^  ^  the  single  lesson,  conducting  all  students 
mental  once  in  everv  seven  years  in  a  rather 

random  fashion  through  certain  parts 
of  the  Bible,  necessarily  left  unstudied  much 
valuable  biblical  material,  not  adapted  to  all 
classes.  By  its  insistence  on  the  Scripture-sec- 
tion plan  it  prevented  the  consideration  of  almost 
every  aspect  of  the  Bible  except  its  expository 
use,  and  it  altogether  excluded  the  study  of  such 

the  volume  in  this  series  by  Meyer,  The  Graded  Sunday  School  in 
Principle  and  Prax;tice,  pp.  96-101. 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   115 

subjects  as  later  church  history,  missions,  church 
organization,  and  modern  ethical  problems.  To 
meet  the  need  thus  suggested  the  plan  of  Supple- 
mentary Lessons  was  introduced  and  at  first 
met  with  quite  general  favor.  Short  lessons  on  a 
wide  variety  of  subjects,  such  as  biblical  geog- 
raphy, the  making  of  the  Bible,  church  history 
and  doctrine  were  prepared.  The  plan  was  to 
present  these  short  lessons  in  a  ten-minute  period 
before  or  after  the  regular  lesson  period.  This 
plan,  though  pushed  with  much  vigor,  served 
only  to  emphasize  the  need  of  a  greatly  enriched 
curriculum  and  to  inspire  many  writers  to  pre- 
pare more  adequate  text  materials  on  subjects 
which  had  been  hitherto  much  neglected  by  the 
schools. 

Two  other  interesting  steps  in  the  development 

of  the  curriculum  of  the  Sunday-school  must  be 

noted:  The  introduction  of  temperance 

periments     Icssons  and  the  provision  for  the  study 

ItZlns''''^  of  missions.     The  interest  of  the  school 

■ w^  in  temperance  was  only  an  indication 

of  its  recognition  of  responsibility  for  more  than 
the  student's  biblical  knowledge.  Bands  of  Hope 
and  children's  total  abstinence  societies  were  the 
first  manifestations  of  this  enlarged  sense  of 
responsibility.  At  the  convention  held  at  Pitts- 
burg in  1890  the  agitation  for  the  teaching  of 
temperance  m  the  schools  was  so  strong  that  it 


116       EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDA  Y-S  C  H  O  O  L 

was  determined  to  set  aside  one  Sunday  in  each 
quarter  of  the  year  as  Temperance  Sunday. 
jOn  this  day  a  lesson  on  this  subject  was  to  be 
/taught.  Many  fruitless  attempts  have  since 
been  made  to  rescind  this  action  or  to  avoid  the 
breach  in  the  continuity  of  teaching  which  it 
caused.  However,  as  graded  systems  came  into 
use  it  was  found  possible  to  work  out  logically 
the  germinal  principle  of  temperance  teaching  and 
to  give  regular,  systematic  instruction  in  hygiene 
from  the  Christian  point  of  view.  Then  such 
studies  were  incorporated  in  the  curricula  of  a 
number  of  schools. 

In  the  British  Sunday-schools  the  interest  in 
Foreign  Missions  was  maintained  by  the  custom 
Mission  of  devoting  all  the  offerings  in  the 
Studies  classes  to  the  missionary  societies.  Sun- 
day-school leaders  in  the  United  States  early 
advocated  the  stimulation  of  missionary  interest, 
but  they  were  slow  to  perceive  that  the  knowledge 
of  the  extension  of  the  Kingdom  was  part  of  a 
child's  religious  birthright  and  quite  essential 
to  his  usefulness  in  Christian  service.  The 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  called  a 
conference  of  Sunday-school  workers  at  Silver 
Bay,  New  York,  in  July,  190G,  at  which  plans  for 
missionary  instruction  were  agreed  upon.  It  was 
provided  that,  in  addition  to  the  designating  of 
those  lessons  which  had  explicit  missionary  inci- 


STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   117 

dents  or  interest  as  such,  the  endeavor  should  be 
made  to  relate  all  lessons  to  this  subject.  This 
unpedagogical  arrangement  failed  to  content 
schools  with  an  educational  conscience,  but  it 
served  to  quicken  the  preparation  of  special 
courses  in  missions.  In  later  years  the  need  for 
missionary  study  was  met  by  (1)  the  organiza- 
tion of  special  classes,  often  meeting  in  the  week; 
(2)  the  creation  of  a  department  on  missions  in 
the  school,  and  (3)  by  special  courses  in  the 
graded  curriculum. 

The  formal  commitment  of  the  International 
Sunday  School  Association  to  the  plan  of  a  com- 
Beginners*  pletely  graded  course  of  study  came 
Lessons  about  at  the  general  convention  of  the 
Association  held  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1908. 
The  steps  of  progress  leading  up  to  the  adoption 
of  that  plan  covered  many  years  and  were  known 
publicly  from  about  1900.  As  early  as  1894  the 
International  Primary  Union  made  its  appeal  for 
a  course  of  lessons  especially  adapted  to  the  chil- 
dren under  six.  The  course  prepared,  however, 
met  with  little  favor.  The  New  Jersey  Sunday 
School  Association  then  issued  a  two-years'  course 
known  as  Bible  Lessons  for  Little  Beginners.  This 
was  widely  adopted.  Following  the  path  marked 
out  by  these  lessons  the  Lesson  Committee  pre- 
pared in  1901  a  new  course  for  one  year  and  at  the 
time  of  the  Denver  Convention,  1902,  a  course  for 


118  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

two  years  was  authorized.  Within  a  short  time 
it  was  reported  that  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the 
schools  had  adopted  this  course  for  their  primary 
pupils.  This  applied  only  to  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  for  the  British  members  of  the 
Lesson  Committee  did  not  commit  themselves 
to  the  plan. 

While  the  Denver  Convention  met  the  wishes 
of  the  workers  in  the  primary  departments  of 
Adult  the  Sunday-schools  it  disappointed  the 

Studies  wishes  of  those  who  advocated  other 
and  more  suitable  lessons  for  the  adult  members 
in  the  schools.  The  Lesson  Committee  prepared 
a  course  covering  two  years  in  response  to  the 
demands  of  many  adult  classes  desiring  some  plan 
of  study  better  adapted  to  their  needs  than  that 
furnished  in  the  Uniform  Lessons.  But  the 
delegates  at  the  convention  rejected  this  part  of 
the  report  of  the  Lesson  Committee  and  denied 
the  advanced  schools  the  privilege  of  an  officially 
planned  and  recognized  course.  At  the  next 
convention,  in  Toronto,  in  1905,  permission  was 
given  the  Lesson  Committee  to  plan  advanced 
courses  suitable  for  adult  classes,  and  this  it  pro- 
ceeded to  do  after  not  a  little  experimentation. 
The  first  course  to  be  definitely  offered  was  on 
The  Ethical  Teachings  of  Jesus. 

The  years  from  1903  to  1908  constitute  one  of 
the  most  critical  periods   in   the  history  of  the 


THE  STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM    119 

American  Sunday-school.  They  witnessed  the 
rapid  adoption  of  the  practice  of  grading  the 
A  Critical  schools  and  the  intense  agitation  of  edu- 
Period  cational  leaders  for  a  properly  graded 
curriculum.  The  schools  were  free  to  grade  as 
seemed  wise  to  them.  They  were  at  serious 
disadvantage  as  to  graded  materials  of  study  so 
long  as  the  uniform  lessons  alone  had  the  endorse- 
ment of  the  Sunday  School  Association.  Criti- 
cism of  the  lessons  gathered  strength  from  several 
sources:  (1)  from  the  general  appreciation  of 
popular  ignorance  of  the  Bible;  (2)  from  the  dis- 
satisfaction of  teachers  who  met  the  practical 
difficulties  involved  in  teaching  these  lessons; 
(3)  from  the  attention  which  trained  educators 
were  giving  to  the  school;  and  (4)  from  recognition 
of  the  superiority  of  the  several  series  of  graded 
lessons  prepared  by  independent  publishers. 

Reform  was  effected  by  the  courage  and  per- 
sistence of  a  few  who  had  seen  the  established 
educational  principles  underlying  the 
work  of  the  school.  They  faced  derision 
and  steady  opposition.  At  first  they  found 
opportunity  to  express  themselves  only  in  meetings 
of  those  who  were  protesting  and  through  a  few 
journals.  Their  proposals  for  graded  lessons  met 
the  conservatism  natural  to  large  institutions  such 
as  in  the  International  Association.  They  met 
also  the  objections  of  denominational  publishers 


120  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

who  had  made  large  investments  in  the  machin- 
ery for  handhng  the  uniform  lessons.  But  though 
often  misunderstood  the  agitators  also  persisted. 
They  came  to  a  consciousness  of  their  strength 
when  the  Religious  Education  Association  was 
organized.  Its  conventions  gave  opportunity  for 
careful  discussion  and  its  publications  secured  a 
wide  hearing  for  their  arguments  and  plans.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  leaders  in  several  of 
the  larger  denominations  were  convinced.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  School  Union  spoke 
emphatically  through  its  corresponding  secretary, 
Reverend  John  T.  McFarland,  D.D.  He  de- 
clared unequivocally  for  a  graded  lesson  scheme. 
He  secured  the  services  of  accomplished  writers 
and  biblical  students  for  the  preparation  of  lessons. 
Before  the  convention  of  the  International 
Association  met  at  Louisville  in  1908,  the  officers 
seriously  faced  the  problem  of  fully 
for  Graded  graded  lessons.  Several  conferences 
Lessons  ^^^^^  j^^jj  ^-^j^  editorial  writers,  pub- 
lishers, and  educators.  The  first  was  held  in 
London,  England,  October  31  to  November  1, 
1906.  The  second  in  the  same  city,  June,  1907, 
witnessed  a  complete  change  in  the  British  com- 
mittee. Several  English  educators  had  been 
added  to  that  body  and  they  stood  for  progress. 
The  next  important  conference  was  held  in  Boston 
in   January,    1908,  when  fifty-four   persons   con- 


THE  STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM    121 

sidered  the  question,  "The  International  Lesson 
System  —  How  may  it  be  Improved?"  The 
result  of  the  dehberations  was  agreement  on  a 
broad  poHcy,  which  was  summarized  somewhat  as 
follows:  (1)  That  the  system  of  a  general  lesson  for 
the  whole  school,  which  has  been  in  successful  use 
for  thirty-five  years,  is  still  the  most  practicable 
and  effective  system  for  the  great  majority  of  the 
Sunday-schools  of  North  America.  Because  of  its 
past  accomplishments,  its  present  usefulness,  and 
its  future  possibilities,  we  recommend  its  contin- 
uance and  its  fullest  development.  (2)  That  the 
need  for  a  graded  system  of  lessons  is  expressed 
by  so  many  Sunday-schools  and  workers,  that  it 
should  be  adequately  met  by  the  International 
Sunday  School  Association,  and  that  the  lesson 
committee  should  be  instructed  by  the  next  inter- 
national convention  to  continue  the  preparation 
of  a  thoroughly  graded  course  covering  the  entire 
range  of  the  Sunday-school. 

Results  followed  the  reaction  at  Toronto  and 
the  succeeding  conferences  and  agitation.  Wlien 
Results  of  ^^^  International  Association  met  at 
Graded  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1908,  it  voted 
unanimously,  "That  this  Convention 
authorize  its  Lesson  Committee  also  to  continue 
the  preparation  of  a  thoroughly  graded  course  of 
lessons,  which  may  be  used  by  any  Sunday-school 
which  desires  it,  whether  in  whole  or  in  part." 


122      EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Meanwhile  the  pubhshers  of  lesson  material 
had  been  making  careful  preparation  for  such 
action  and  there  was  then  ready  for  presentation 
to  the  Lesson  Committee  a  carefully  prepared 
system  of  lessons  for  the  years  from  seven  to 
thirteen  inclusive.  The  American  section  of  the 
Lesson  Committee  adopted  these  lessons  and 
they  were  ready  for  the  teachers  and  classes  in 
the  school  with  the  beginning  of  the  year's  work 
in  the  fall  of  1909.  The  demand  for  the  outlines 
of  these  lessons  and  for  the  quarterlies  and  text 
books  containing  the  material  was  a  surprise  to 
all  publishers.  They  were  overwhelmed  with 
orders.  There  was  immediate  popular  apprecia- 
tion of  the  step  taken.  The  general  recognition 
of  the  need  for  graded  lessons  was  much  greater 
than  had  been  realized. 

While  the  International  Sunday  School  Asso- 
ciation, with  the  deliberation  characteristic  of 
Individual  any  large  and  popular  movement,  had 
Pioneers  been  coming  to  the  adoption  of  the  plan 
of  graded  curricula,  other  persons  and  organiza- 
tions had  been  working  out  graded  lesson  courses. 
The  Religious  Education  Association  had  per- 
sistently urged  the  educational  necessity  for 
graded  lessons.  Resolutions  had  been  prepared 
and  offered  from  many  denominational  and  similar 
bodies  and  from  groups  of  Sunday-school  workers. 
By   various   means    the   public   mind   had   been 


THE    STORY    OF    LESSON    SYSTEM  123 

educated  to  the  principle  of  the  gradation  of  the 
lesson  material.  Some  of  the  schools  which  led 
in  the  preparation  of  their  own  lesson  courses 
were  the  Church  of  the  Disciples,  Roxbury, 
Massachusetts;  The  First  Congregational  Church, 
Oakland,  California;  The  Hyde  Park  Baptist 
Church,  Chicago,  Illinois;  The  University  Con- 
gregational Church  of  the  same  city;  the  school 
maintained  at  Teachers'  College,  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, New  York;  and  the  St.  Agnes  Chapel 
Sunday-school  of  Trinity  Parish,  New  York. 

One  of  the  factors  contributing  to  the  develop- 
ment of  Sunday-school  lesson  material  has  been 
r»^«««,;„o     the  organization,  in  different  denomina- 

Denonuna-  °  ' 

tional  tions,   of   Special   groups   to  study  the 

needs  of  graded  Bible  schools.     One  of 

the  best  illustrations  of  this  method  is  found  in 

the  work  of  a  Congregational  committee,  "On  a 

course  of  study  for  graded  Bible  schools."     This 

committee  has  been  in  existence  and  has  rendered 

annual  reports  since  May  21,  1901.    It  is  appointed 

by  the  association  of  Congregational  churches  for 

Illinois.     Seven    of    their    reports    are    in    print. 

They  give  annually  the  progress  in  the  adoption 

of  ideals  of  gradation  in  the  schools  of  Illinois, 

the  definite  plans  of  work  used  by  schools,  and 

book-lists  of  text  material  divided  into  grades  for 

the  schools. 

Other  denominations  have  rendered  at  different 


r- 


124  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

times  like  service.  The  Northern  Baptist  Con- 
vention at  its  meeting  in  Portland,  Oregon, 
rpjjg  in  May,  1909,  appointed  a  commission 

Church  on  the  "Coordination  of  the  educa- 
tional agencies  of  the  local  church." 
This  commission  consisted  of  nine  members,  held 
a  number  of  meetings  in  1909  and  1910,  and  pre- 
sented a  significant  report  at  the  convention  of 
its  denomination  held  at  Chicago  in  May,  1910. 
This  report,  amongst  other  things,  defined  relig- 
ious education  as  "The  development  of  religious 
life  in  fulness  and  eflaciency."  It  went  on  to 
suggest  that  all  the  educational  work  of  the 
church  should  be  under  the  direction  of  an  organ- 
ization to  be  known  as  "The  school  of  the  church" 
and  that  the  "school  of  the  church  .  .  .  should 
include  not  only  the  work  done  in  the  Sunday 
school  but  the  educational  activities  of  the  church, 
...  so  conducted  as  to  contribute  in  due  pro- 
portion in  each  period  of  life  to  the  increase  of 
knowledge,  the  education  of  the  emotions,  and  the 
development  of  activity."  The  commission  also 
published  a  table  indicating  the  sources  and  types 
of  material  then  available  for  a  graded  curriculum 
to  cover  all  the  activities  of  the  church  and  the 
needs  of  a  developing  religious  life. 

Manifestly  it  would  be  impossible  to  make 
mention  of  every  serious  attempt  to  meet  the 
need  for   graded  lesson  material  for  the  school, 


THE  STORY  OF  LESSON  SYSTEM   125 

but  several  enterprises  deserve  more  than  the 
brief  description  possible  here.  The  most  notable 
Notable  is  that  known  as  The  Constructive  Bible 
Series  Studies,  published  by  the  University  of 

Chicago  Press.  This  is  probably  the  most  com- 
plete series  of  carefully  prepared  text-books  for 
the  school.  All  are  written  by  authors  of  repute 
and  scholarship.  It  includes  text-books,  usually 
with  lessons  outlined  for  a  year's  work,  for  all 
the  grades  of  a  school.  Studies  are  so  suited  to 
each  grade  that  the  whole  field  of  biblical  knowl- 
edge is  properly  covered.  Other  subjects  such 
as  Christian  ethics  and  history  are  treated  in 
their  proper  places.  The  Pilgrim  Press  also  pre- 
pared some  particularly  useful  books  to  meet  the 
need  of  adult  classes.  These  rendered  valuable 
service  especially  during  the  period  of  agitation 
for  lesson  material  suited  to  adults.  The  Graded 
Manuals  of  the  Unitarian  Sunday  School  Society 
were  prepared  during  a  long  period  of  time,  from 
1850  on.  They  cover  a  wider  range  of  subjects 
than  any  other  up  to  1910,  and  are  worthy  of 
note,  both  for  their  comprehensiveness  and  for 
the  amount  of  extra-biblical  material.  In  1910 
an  entirely  new  series  of  graded  texts  was  pro- 
jected by  this  society. 

One  of  the  most  serious  attempts  to  meet  the 
need  of  a  graded  curriculum  for  the  Sunday-school 
was  the  work  of  the  Bible  Study  Union.      This 


126     EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

organization,  by  agitation  and  by  the  production 
of  suitable  graded  material,  created  standards  and 
The  Bible  largely  stimulated  the  unrest  which  led 
Study  to  the  general  adoption  of  the  graded 

Union  'IT  1 

curricula.  It  was  the  result  of  the 
personal  experience  of  the  Reverend  Erastus 
Blakeslee  as  pastor  of  a  Congregational  church 
in  Spencer,  Massachusetts.  In  1888  he  planned 
lessons  for  his  young  people's  Bible  class  which 
met  in  the  week.  The  experiment  proved  so 
successful  that  Mr.  Blakeslee  conceived  the  plan 
of  similar  lessons  for  the  Sunday-school.  His 
general  idea  was  to  give  first  a  broad  study  of 
the  Bible  as  a  whole  and  to  follow  this  in  later 
years  with  a  more  particular  and  careful  study 
of  its  parts.  In  1890  Mr.  Blakeslee  published  a 
series  of  lessons  on  the  Life  of  Christ.  The  next 
year  the  Bible  Study  Publishing  Company  was 
organized  in  Boston.  In  1894  publications  were 
issued  for  the  departments  or  broad  gradations 
of  the  school.  Later,  further  divisions  were  made 
and  a  closer  gradation  was  adopted.  The  plan 
was  under  the  direction  of  the  Bible  Study  Union, 
an  organization  which  included  some  of  the  lead- 
ing religious  educators.  They  employed,  for  the 
preparation  of  lessons,  some  of  the  best  biblical 
experts  of  that  time.  This  was  the  first  attempt 
on  any  large  scale  to  prepare  for  all  Sunday-schools 
Jessons  which  might  be  regarded  as  covering  the 


THE    STORY    OF    LESSON    SYSTEM        127 

field  of  Bible  study  in  a  comprehensive  manner, 
and  guided  by  the  general  principle  of  variety 
of  treatment  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  different 
grades.  A  large  number  of  schools  adopted  these 
studies.  The  courses  of  lessons  were  improved 
from  year  to  year  and  in  1910  the  organization 
began  the  publication  of  a  completely  graded 
series  embracing  six  separate  courses  with  special 
text-books  and  treatment  for  practically  every 
year  of  Sunday-school  life. 

So  through  many  decades  the  curricula  and 
lesson  materials  of  the  school  have  been  develop- 
ing. Beginning  with  the  ardent  efforts  of  those 
who  were  zealous  for  the  word  of  God  this  insti- 
tution has  increasingly  won  the  attention  and 
the  expert  services  of  educational  leaders.  The 
multiplicity  of  text-books  at  the  beginning  of 
this  new  period  of  thorough  gradation  tends,  not 
to  confusion,  but  to  more  careful  adaptation. 
The  tendency  to  the  presentation  of  lesson  material 
in  text-book  form  gives  promise  of  value  and 
permanency.  It  points  to  the  day  when  it  will 
be  as  easy  to  select  material  precisely  suitable  for 
any  class  as  it  now  is  to  do  the  same  in  any  other 
school. 


X 


THE  PERIOD  OF  INTENSIVE 
DEVELOPMENT 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  Sunday-school  was  in  the  process  of 
coming  to  recognition  as  an  educational  agency. 
The  emphasis,  generally  speaking,  was  upon  its 
extension  rather  than  upon  its  internal  develop- 
ment and  improvement.  It  was  the  period  of 
the  organization  of  new  schools,  the  extension  of 
existing  schools  into  new  fields,  and  of  efforts  to 
include  all  the  persons  in  their  parishes.  The 
school  grew  from  a  small  and  somewhat  unimpor- 
tant venture  in  behalf  of  destitute  and  ignorant 
children  into  a  real  and  important  special  depart- 
ment of  church  life.  In  the  end  of  the  century 
it  developed  from  a  somewhat  indefinite  organiza- 
tion into  an  organization  for  a  clearly  recognized 
specific  purpose.  ^ 

If  about  1850  one  had  asked  a  pastor  or  a 
Sunday-school  officer  what  these  schools  were. 
Changing  he  would  have  answered:  "They  are 
Emphasis  ^.j^g  nurseries  of  the  church."  That  was 
one  of  the  stock  phrases  for  the  school.     They 

1^8 


INTENSIVE     DEVELOPMENT         129 

were  the  means  by  which  the  church  sought  to 

minister  to  the  children  and  to  hold  them  for 

herself.     The    same    question    forty    years    later 

would   have  ehcited  a  different   answer:    "They 

are   the   Bible   schools   of   the   churches."     That 

is  to  say,   the  church  had   committed  to  these 

institutions  the  special  task  of  teaching  the  Bible 

to  all  her  people.      Still  later,  at  the  beginning 

of  the  twentieth  century,  the  answer,  if  it  came 

from  those  who  watched  and  measured  progress, 

would  probably  be:   "These   are   the  schools  of 

the  church;  they  exist  especially  for  the  training 

and  development  of  the  people  of  the  church  in 

Christian   character    and   in    Christian    service." 

In  other  words,  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 

century  saw  the  general  recognition  of  the  special 

function    of    this    institution.     It    was 
Becomes  ,  .      , 

the  School    seen  as  the  particular  agency  or  organ- 

Ctach  ization  which  was  seeking  to  realize 
the  great  purposes  of  the  church  by 
the  educational  method.  In  the  various  names 
given  to  this  organization  the  emphasis  has 
gradually  shifted  something  like  this:  Sunday- 
school,  Bible  school.  Church  school.  This  change 
can  be  readily  traced  in  several  ways. 

First,  in  the  topics  of  inquiry  amongst  Sunday- 
school  workers,  as  seen  in  programs  of  institutes 
and  conventions.  All  persons  of  mature  years 
can   remember    when    the   great,   popular   ques- 


130  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

tions  were:  "How  can  we  increase  attendance?" 
"How  get  all  the  people  in  the  school?"  "One 
Changes  in  ^^  ^^^  schools  on  Sunday?"  "Morn- 
Topics  of  inff  vs .  Afternoon  schools . "  "  The  or ff an- 
Interest  .        . 

ization    of   new    schools."     One    finds 

in  these  programs  occasional  recognition  of  the 
problem  of  education,  especially  as  to  matters 
of  discipline.  Usually,  however,  the  conception 
was  the  mechanical  one  which  accompanied  the 
vision  of  the  school  only  from  the  point  of  view  of 
organization  and  numbers.  Later  there  emerged 
a  large  number  of  questions  on  Bible  study.  The 
uniform  lessons  came  to  the  front.  Excitement 
rose  high  on  methods  of  securing  the  interest  of 
the  whole  world  in  Bible  study.  That  was  a 
motive  by  no  means  to  be  despised  or  minimized. 
The  focusing  of  the  attention  of  so  mariy  on  Bible 
study  probably  brought  larger  results  to  the  church 
then  we  shall  ever  accurately  estimate.  Pro- 
grams were  crowded  with  problems  of  teaching  the 
Bible  to  persons  of  all  ages.  Lectures  and  insti- 
tutes for  Bible  study  arose.  The  very  concen- 
tration on  this  subject  of  study,  the  custom  of 
regarding  this  as  a  school  especially  for  the  Bible, 
just  as  another  institution  may  be  a  school  of 
music,  quickly  brought  the  realization  of  the 
necessity  of  making  it  a  school  indeed.  The 
subject  of  study  was  evidently  so  large  and  im- 
portant that  only  the  best  educational  methods 


INTENSIVE     DEVELOPMENT         131 

could  be  adequate  for  it.  Then  when  it  was 
settled  that  the  Bible  was  the  principal  text-book 
'  in  the  Sunday  school,  the  questions  of  method 
arose.  Programs  began  to  look  very  much  like 
those  used  for  teachers'  institutes  in  public-school 
work.  Today  the  school  uses  on  its  convention 
and  institute  programs  some  of  the  foremost 
specialists  in  education  in  the  country.  These 
lines  of  emphasis  were  not  contradictory;  each 
new  one  was  in  no  sense  destructive  of  the  pre- 
ceding. They  were  cumulative,  complementary, 
and  progressive.  Each  emphasis  made  its  con- 
tribution. Progress  is  ever  in  this  way,  by  series 
of  emphases  which  carry  us  forward  so  that  at 
each  step  we  take  into  the  new  day  some  of  the 
riches  of  the  old. 

Development  may  be  traced  very  easily  also 
in  Sunday-school  literature.  A  file  of  the  Sunday- 
j^     ,  school  journals  of  any  denomination  is  a 

ment  of        good  mirror  of  popular  estimates  of  the 

Literature         i       i        /-^  xi       i  u  £ 

school.     Compare  the  large  number  oi 

articles  on  questions  of  organization,  with  special 

reference  to  duties  of  ofl5cers  and  teachers,  in  the 

journals  of,  say,  1880  and  the  type  of  article  now 

most  common,  such  as  studies  in  the  fundamental 

educational    considerations,    namely    the    nature 

of  the  child,  or  the  processes  of  learning,  or  the 

laws  of  the   development  of  character.     At  the 

earlier  period  the  authorities  were  those  who  had 


132  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

met  with  success  in  the  business  of  recruiting  and 
handhng  large  numbers  of  children;  in  the  latter 
period  our  teachers  on  Sunday-school  science  are 
those  who  speak  with  authority  on  the  principles 
of  education  with  special  reference  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  spirit  of  religion  in  the  life. 

Development   may   be   traced   also   in   special 
organizations  designed  to  aid  the  school  and  its 

-.      -  workers.     In  the  case  of  the  Inter na- 

Deveiop- 

mentin  tional  Sunday  School  Association  its 
Organization  g^^^  general  officer  was  a  Field  Secre- 
tary who  gave  his  attention,  in  the  interim  be- 
tween conventions,  to  the  extension  of  the  school 
as  an  institution.  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs  was  a  Sun- 
day-school man  in  the  sense  of  seeking  to  bring 
about  the  day  when  every  church  and  mission 
would  have  a  school.  His  aim  also  was  that  each 
school  should  enlist  all  its  people.  True  these 
officers  did  not  organize  schools;  they  stimulated 
their  organization.  Today  this  Association  has 
a  number  of  special  secretaries  whose  duties  are 
those  of  developing  the  efficiency  of  the  schools 
as  such.  There  are  officers  in  charge  of  special 
departments,  such  as  the  Primary,  Intermediate, 
and  Adult,  who  are  fully  alive  to  the  need  for 
specialization.  Others  are  in  charge  of  special 
interests,  such  as  Education  (stimulating  adequate 
teacher-training),  Missions,  and  Temperance. 
^    Development    can    be    traced    in    other   great 


INTENSIVE     DEVELOPMENT         133 

■  d 

Sunday-school  organizations  and  movements. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  all  the  organiza- 
Primary  ""  tions  seeking  the  greater  efficiency  of 
Union  ^^le  school  grew  up  within  the  organized 

ranks.  It  was  that  which  is  now  known  as  the 
International  Primary  Union.  At  the  Inter- 
national Convention  in  1887  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W. 
N.  Hartshorn  drew  attention  to  the  importance 
of  properly  meeting  the  needs  of  very  small 
children.  That  was  the  first  general  recognition 
of  a  movement  then  several  years  old.  As  early 
as  1870  the  teachers  of  primary  classes  in  Newark, 
New  Jersey,  met  and  organized  a  Primary  Union. 
Later  teachers  of  primary  groups  created  similar 
organizations  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Washington,  D.  C.  These  primary  unions  ex- 
isted, not  only  to  show  teachers  how  to  present 
the  lesson  for  the  next  Sunday,  but  to  carry  on 
regular  courses  of  study  in  child-nature,  in  peda- 
gogy (especially  for  the  primary  and  kindergarten), 
and  in  methods.  They  became  voluntary  train- 
ing schools.  It  is  said  that  in  one  of  these  the 
use  of  the  blackboard  was  first  suggested  and 
though,  as  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barnes  says,  this  was 
"criticised  as  secularizing  the  Sunday-school," 
it  naturally  won  its  way  into  use  throughout  the 
school.  As  year  after  year  new  Unions  were 
formed,  new  courses  were  developed,  and  many 
institutes   were  held.     The  primary  department 


134  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

of  the  Sunday-school  received  a  wonderful  stimu- 
lus toward  intensive   development.     The  organ- 
.    ization  of  primary  workers  blazed  the  way  for  the 
organization  of  the  whole  school  upon  modern  lines. 
There   is   no   chapter   more   important   in   the 
history  of  the  modern  development  of  the  Sunday- 
school  than  that  which  relates  to  the 

Leadership  ^        rv      ,     e       jli  •      x*  j    i 

by  the  early  efforts  for  the  organization  and  de- 

Primary  velopment  of  the  primary  department. 
This  is  so,  first,  because  they  dealt  with 
the  problems  of  the  Sunday-school  at  the  begin- 
ning of  its  work  with  the  child.  The  improve- 
ments secured  were  felt  all  through  the  school 
as  the  individual  pupils  advanced  from  grade  to 
grade.  Second,  and  most  important,  the  women 
in  the  primary  unions  came  very  early  under  the 
influence  of  certain  great  educators.  They  lis- 
tened to  loyal  kindergarteners,  and  became 
disciples  of  Pestalozzi  and  Froebel.  As  a  result 
they  proceeded  to  organize  the  primary  depart- 
ment on  the  only  sound  and  enduring  basis, 
upon  the  laws  of  the  life  of  the  child.  They 
became  enthusiasts  in  child-study;  that  is  essen- 
tially the  secret  of  all  their  success.  Third,  they 
led  the  movement  for  graded  lessons.  This 
movement  grew  naturally  and  inevitably  out  of 
the  study  of  the  child.  They  learned  the  laws  of 
the  child  life,  discovered  his  normal  spiritual 
needs,  and  properly  demanded   that   he   should 


INTENSIVE     DEVELOPMENT         135 

have  suitable  food.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  move- 
ment for  graded  lessons  would  have  achieved 
success  within  the  regular  Sunday-school  organiza- 
tion but  for  the  pioneer  work  of  primary  teachers. 
Other  causes  contributed,  but  this  one  operated 
powerfully  in  many  of  the  most  conservative 
schools.  Fourth,  the  primary  unions  led  the  way 
in  teacher-training;  their  work  was  principally 
that  of  teacher-training.  When  they  could  point 
to  the  striking  development  of  the  primary  de- 
partment in  the  schools,  and  when  the  churches  be- 
came proud  of  their  primaries,  it  was  evident  that 
this  kind  of  work  paid.  The  primary  unions,  with 
their  propaganda,  which  met  with  not  a  little  scoff- 
ing and  coldness  at  times,  became  the  demonstra- 
tors of  better  things  in  Sunday-school  methods. 

Other  organizations  also  played  their  part  in 
the  development  of  the  school  as  an  educational 
Other  Or-  agency.  The  school  was  deeply  in- 
ganizations  Jebted  to  those  who  began  to  provide 
better  graded  lesson  courses;  to  the  group  pro- 
moting what  was  called  "supplemental  study," 
to  superintendents,  unions,  and  to  such  organiza- 
tions as  the  Religious  Education  Association. 
All  were  evidences  of  the  fact  that  the  church 
was  awakening  to  the  value  of  the  educational 
method.  All  were  indications  of  conscientious 
efforts  to  do  divine  service  according  to  the  divine 
laws  of  character  development. 


XI 

CAUSES  AND  FACTORS  IN  RECENT 
DEVELOPMENT 

The  Sunday-school  made  greater  progress  in 
the  ten  years  following  1890  than  in  any  like 
period,  perhaps  than  in  any  century  of  its  history. 
The  immediate  factors  were:  the  grouping  of 
leaders  into  new  organizations  with  timely  ideals, 
new  Hfe  in  the  International  Sunday  School 
Association,  the  work  of  the  Religious  Education 
Association,  the  endeavors  of  the  great  denomi- 
national leaders,  and  the  examples  of  individual 
schools  which  worked  out  significant  experi- 
ments. But  back  of  these  factors  great  forces 
were  at  work.  The  Sunday-school  changed  be- 
cause the  world's  thought  changed.  This  school 
developed  because  education  in  general  took  great 
strides  forward. 

One  of  the  most  serious  questions  for  any  student 
The  School  ^^  ^^^  development  of  the  Sunday- 
and  the  Life  school  is  whether  this  institution  has 
°  ^  ^^  kept  pace  with  the  development  of  other 
educational  institutions.  This  inquiry  is  only  part 
of  another  and  more  important  tone,  whether  the 
Sunday-school  has  kept  pace  with  the  develop- 

136 


CAUSES     AND     FACTORS  137 

ment  of  human  thought.  This  is  a  question 
manifestly  of  first  importance  to  the  school,  for 
if  it  is  to  be  the  chief  minister  of  the  church  to 
the  religious  development  of  the  young  it  must 
properly  prepare  the  young  for  the  life  and  the 
thought  of  the  world  into  which  they  are  to  go. 
On  the  other  hand  it  is  important  to  know  whether 
the  school  has  received  whatever  benefit  might 
be  derivable  from  human  progress. 

At  first  it  may  seem  as  though  the  Sunday- 
school  has  felt  the  current  of  the  world's  thought 
Period  of  in  only  a  slight  degree  and,  to  any 
Change  noticeable  or  valuable  extent,  only  in 
rare  instances.  No  other  period,  unless  it  be 
that  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  of  England,  can 
compare  with  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  as  to  philosophical  progress  and  certainly 
no  other  of  which  we  know  can  compare  as  to 
scientific  discovery.  Indeed  the  value  of  the 
philosophical  development  of  this  period  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  based  upon  scientific  discovery. 
Men  have  come,  by  vast  strides,  nearer  than  ever 
before  to  thinking  the  universe  into  unity.  Modern 
philosophy  has  given  human  importance  to  re- 
ligion. It  can  no  longer  be  regarded  by  any 
thoughtful  person  as  the  concern  of  a  few.  It  is 
part  of  the  common  race  inheritance  and  of  the 
great  problem  of  human  existence.  All  our  later 
philosophy  tends  to  center  about  the  religious 


138  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

problem.     It  follows  that  any  institution  which 
exists  to  teach  religion  becomes  of  new  importance. 

The  effect  of  modern  philosophy  is  not  seen  so 
much  in  the  teaching  in  the  school  or  in  the  sub- 
Effect  of  jects  taught  as  in  the  attention  which 
Philosophy  leaders  of  thought,  particularly  in  edu- 
cation, have  been  giving  to  the  institution  itself 
in  the  last  two  decades.  Further,  the  most 
superficial  survey  shows  that  the  Sunday-school 
in  the  last  few  years  has  come  to  popular  religious 
importance  largely  as  a  result  of  the  general 
movement  for  education.  Now  this  is  only  to 
say  that  the  school  had  been  feeling  right  along, 
though  somewhat  remotely,  the  currents  of  world 
thought,  for  the  best  expression  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  world  spirit  is  to  be  seen  in  / 
our  educational  advance  and  interest. 

The  first  few  years  even  of  the  twentieth  century 
afford  indubitable  evidence  of  the  influence  of 
Influence  of  modern  scientific  thought  on  the  Sun- 
Scientific      day-school.     The  school  is  seen  in  these 

°"^  years  rapidly  shifting  its  center  from 

the  Bible  to  the  child,  coming  to  exist  for  the 
latter  rather  than  for  the  former,  and  to  use  the 
former  for  the  sake  of  the  latter.  Sunday-school 
leaders  began  to  insist  that  the  school  exists  not 
to  teach  the  Bible  but  to  educate  children  as 
religious  persons  and  to  use  the  Bible  together 
with  whatever  may  be  best  to  this  end.      With 


CAUSES     AND     FACTORS  139 

the  child  as  the  center  it  became  evident  that 
curriculum,  organization,  and  methods  must  all 
be  based  on  the  child's  needs,  determined  by  his 
characteristics  and  governed  by  the  laws  of  his 
life.  This  is  an  entire  change  of  basis  of  which  we 
at  this  day  are  hardly  conscious,  so  rapidly  and 
yet  so  steadily  and  assuredly  has  it  come  about. 
The  profound  reason  for  the  change  is  found  in 
the  larger  world  of  scientific  thinking,  particularly 
in  the  rise  of  what  is  often  called  the  "new  psychol- 
ogy." In  the  development  of  scientific  thought 
psychology  has  passed  from  merely  empirical 
study  of  the  phenomena  of  the  mind  to  a  scientific 
study  of  the  laws  of  consciousness.  It  attempts 
to  discover  in  terms  of  a  unified,  harmonious  life 
the  laws  under  which  personality  develops.  The 
advent  of  the  inductive  study  of  the  higher  life 
has  given  a  true,  reliable,  and  scientific  basis  for 
all  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school.  The  modern 
educational  situation  has  also  made  it  evident 
that  the  work  of  this  school  is  the  development 
of  that  higher  life.  The  Sunday-school,  awakened 
to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  it  is  the  institution 
which  has  for  its  specific  aim  the  development 
of  the  religious  life,  should  be  the  first  to  yield 
implicit  obedience  to  the  laws  of  this  life  as  they 
are  discovered. 

By  the  recognition  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  psychology  the  Sunday-school  has  also  been 


140  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

swung  into  the  currents  of  modern  world  thought. 
Let  one  think  long  enough  and  he  will  be 
,  .  inclined  to  say  that  few  if  any  have 
and  the  influenced  this  institution  more  than 
Evoi^on''^  Charles  Darwin,  the  biologist.  A  his- 
tory is  no  place  for  prophecy;  but  at  the 
end  of  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury it  is  so  evident  that  the  schools  are  by 
hundreds  being  reorganized  in  accord  with  the 
principles  of  genetic  psychology  that  this  assertion 
is  not  wholly  prophetic.  The  new  psychology 
is  the  child  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  the  former 
unthinkable  without  the  latter.  The  psychology 
which  the  modern  Sunday-school  teacher  learns 
is  distinguished  by  two  great  characteristics:  (1) 
it  regards  the  human  being  in  every  aspect  of  his 
life  as  a  product  of  a  long  course  of  development 
and  it  regards  him  as  a  unit,  a  complex  personal- 
ity, and  not  a  bundle  of  faculties.  Out  of  the  first 
conception  grows  our  genetic  psychology.^  The 
child  stands  at  the  fulness  of  the  ages;  (2)  it 
insists  that  education  is  the  development  of  the 
whole  life  as  a  whole,  not  the  conservation  of  a 
special  part  called  the  soul,  still  less  the  training 
of  the  faculties  called  the  mind,  but  the  develop- 
ment of  a  whole  and  indivisible  personality  into 

*  For  the  credit  due  to  Darwin  see  G.  S.  Hall  in  address  at 
Darwin  Centenary,  American  Association  for  Advancement  of 
Science,  January,  1909.. 


CAUSES     AND     FACTORS  141 

the  possession  of  all  its  powers,  into  reception 
of  all  its  inheritances,  into  adjustment  to  all  life, 
into  efficiency  in  every  phase  of  living  and  serving. 
It  would  be  fairly  just  to  say  that  the  Sunday- 
school  was  regarded  in  the  middle  nineteenth 
century  as  the  training  school  for  the  soul,  the 
public  school  as  for  the  mind,  while  the  body 
usually  took  its  chances.  The  sweep  of  scientific 
thinking  has  unified  all  educational  agencies  so 
that  all  are  recognized  as  dealing  with  the  whole 
of  personality.  The  Sunday-school  has  to  do  with 
bodies,  brain  and  faith,  sensation  and  emotion, 
blood-flow  and  hope,  respiration  and  aspiration, 
muscles  and  habits.  It  has  to  do  with  the 
whole  of  every  life  and  so  it  becomes  a  real  part 
of  the  entire  educational  life  of  the  people. 

Such  new  thoughts  —  and  not  long  ago  they  were 
wonderfully  new  —  profoundly  influenced  Sun- 
The  Child  day-school  practice.  They  first  focussed 
Central  attention  on  the  child  and  compelled 
every  one  to  study  the  child  with  scientific  care 
and  sympathy.  They  remodeled  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  school  by  the  recognition  of  the  princi- 
ple of  development  in  the  life  of  the  child  and  the 
need  of  adaptation  of  material  taught,  type  of 
organization,  and  method  of  teaching  to  the 
developing  life.  Hence  the  graded  school.  They 
rearranged  the  curriculum  and  introduced  new 
elements,  suiting  the  subjects  to  the  developing 


142  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

life.  They  recognized  that  those  periods  in  which 
the  interests  of  each  individual  are  those  of 
savagery,  barbarism,  or  early  civilization,  are  in 
part  the  survival  of  characteristics  derived 
from  early  racial  experiences.  The  school  con- 
forms to  the  law  that  the  curricula  material  must 
be  determined  by  these  normal  genetic  interests. 
Hence  the  graded  lesson. 

The  latest  period  of  Sunday-school  history 
witnesses  the  singular  spectacle  of  a  relatively 
Present  small  number  of  persons  intelligently 
Situation  reorganizing  the  Sunday-school  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws  of  modern  scientific  thought. 
A  larger  number,  recognizing  the  need  of  re- 
organization, are  adopting  the  plans  of  the  few 
as  though  these  plans  were  specious  tricks  and 
devices  promising  success.  The  few  are  the 
foremost  men  in  education,  those  who  have 
studied  the  laws  of  life,  who  are  trained  in  psychol- 
ogy, and  acquainted  with  world  philosophy.  Out 
of  their  consciousness  of  the  importance  of  the 
Sunday-school  and  of  their  hope  of  its  improve- 
ment rose  the  Ex^ligious  Education  Association. 
These  men  are  giving  to  the  school  their  best 
trained  thought.  Through  them  it  feels  the 
influence  of  modern  progress,  both  scientific  and 
philosophical.  The  many  follow,  often  uncon- 
scious of  the  leadership,  yet  honestly  and  earnestly 
desiring  improvement. 


CAUSES     AND     FACTORS  143 

The  important  thing  to  see  clearly  is  that  the 

remarkable    development   of    the    Sunday-school 

in  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  cen- 

Meaningsin  tury,    as    indicated    in    organizations, 

Religious      discussions,    literature,    and    individual 
Education  .        . 

effort  for  its  improvement  is  due  not 
to  any  passing  spasm  of  interest,  and  not  to  any 
emotional  regard  for  the  child  as  such,  and  not 
to  the  invention  of  numerous  devices  to  make  a 
school  more  attractive  and  so  beguile  larger 
numbers  into  it.  On  the  contrary,  this  develop- 
ment is  due  to  the  influence  of  scientific  thought, 
to  the  fact  that  practically  all  men,  even  those 
who  seem  to  be  uneducated,  now  think  in  terms 
of  a  new  world,  of  a  universe  developing  under 
law.  We  have  come  to  accept  the  principle  that 
man  is  developing  as  part  of  his  universe,  to 
accept  the  new  meaning  of  education  as  part  of 
our  world  process.  Education  is  development. 
We  count  on  character  by  development.  We 
acknowledge  the  necessity  of  knowing  all  the 
factors  that  enter  into  that  development.  The 
Sunday-school  leaders  insist  that  this  institution, 
existing  for  the  development  of  the  child  as  a 
religious  being,  shall  become  obedient  to  those 
laws  that  "in  Nature's  infinite  book  of  secrecy" 
we  can  read.  The  scientific  mind  accounts  for 
the  new  Sunday-school.  Great  movements  in 
thought   have  found   practical   expression.     The 


144  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

effect  of  changes  in  the  world  of  science  and  in 
the  field  of  education  has  been  manifest  directly 
in  the  work  of  the  church  and  the  Sunday-school. 
Practical  results  have  followed. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  awakening  of  the 
church  to  the  importance  of  the  Sunday-school. 
.  This   was   preceded   by   an   awakening 

Awakened    to  the  importance  of  the  child,  due  to 

^^^  the    work    of    Pestalozzi    and    Froebel, 

the  leaders  in  natural  training  for  the  child.  From 
their  work  grew  popular  interest  in  kindergartens 
and  better  schools  for  little  children.  Then  came 
scientific  investigations  into  the  life  of  the  young 
child  and  the  quick  recognition  of  the  crucial 
character  of  this  period  in  its  relation  to  character 
development.  The  church,  following  the  lead 
of  education,  set  the  child  in  the  midst  and  that 
brought  the  school  before  her  eyes. 

Next  came  an  awakening  to  the  inadequacy 
of  the  Sunday-school,  as  it  was  then  organized. 
Recognition  to  meet  the  task  that  confronted  it. 
of  Needs  This  found  expression  in  current  Sun- 
day-school literature  most  clearly  about  1890. 
Sermons  and  articles  in  many  publications  indi- 
cated a  clear  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  great 
responsibility  for  direct  religious  instruction  rested 
on  the  church.  Writers  often  took  a  pessimistic 
attitude  toward  the  fact  that  the  school  faced 
this  great  opportunity  with  an  untrained  force 


CAUSES     AND     FACTORS  145 

of  workers.  The  church  was  inclined  to  join  in 
the  chorus  of  ridicule  and  despair  at  the  institu- 
tion for  which  she  had  failed  to  make  any  sort  of 
serious  provision.  It  became  the  fad  to  poke 
fun  at  the  school.  But  men  of  vision,  just  then, 
in  both  church  and  school,  men  like  William  R. 
Harper,  Frank  K.  Sanders,  George  Albert  Coe, 
and  others,  devoted  their  time  and  attention  to  its 
problems. 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  in  modern 
progress  was  the  creation  of  a  new  literature  which 
A  New  treated  the  school  seriously  and  applied 
Literature    ^^  j^-g  problems  the    results    of    recent 

educational  science  and  the  services  of  trained 
investigators.  Following  the  work  of  practical 
leaders  like  John  H.  Vincent  and  H.  C.  Trum- 
bull, the  new  type  of  book  came  into  the  school. 
One  of  the  first  was  the  result  of  a  series  of 
lectures  delivered  in  New  York  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Diocesan  Sunday-school  Com- 
mission for  that  city  in  1899. ^  Published  the 
following  year  this  book  made  a  profound  impres- 
sion. It  was  followed  shortly  by  several  careful 
works  on  the  organization  of  the  school,  such  as 
Burton  and  Mathews'  Principles  and  Ideals  in  the 
Sunday  School  and  Haslett's  Pedagogical  Sunday 
School.  Specialized  literature  followed  on  different 
phases  of  the  work  of  the  school,  notably  books 

^  The  Principles  of  Religious  Education,  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 


146  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

on  child-study  for  the  Sunday-school  teacher. 
The  work  of  G.  Stanley  Hall  was  notable  here, 
and  along  with  it,  for  practical  value,  that  of 
George  A.  Coe  and  Edwin  D.  Starbuck.  Teachers 
were  by  this  time,  after  1890,  being  taught  to 
read  and  use  modern  books  in  psychology.  Read- 
ing courses  were  arranged,  including  the  work  of 
authors  and  investigators  such  as  Baldwin,  Sully, 
and  Oppenheim.  Then  came  parallel  develop- 
ment in  the  art  of  teaching,  the  use  of  the  best 
that  had  been  written  on  pedagogy.  Sunday- 
school  teachers  began  to  take  their  work  so 
seriously  that  experts  from  the  normal  colleges 
were  no  longer  ashamed  to  accept  appointments 
to  lecture  before  groups  of  these  teachers.  The 
extensive  literature  gathered  and  published  by 
the  Religious  Education  Association,  prepared 
by  educational  authorities  and  popularized  for 
practical  workers,  contributed  steadily  in  these 
directions. 

No  single  form  of  practical  effort  has  produced 
larger  results  for  the  development  of  the  Sunday- 
school  than  that  of  the  publication  of 
Educational  books,  pamphlets,  and  special  articles 
Science  dealing  with  its  educational  principles 
and  their  practical  application.  Nowhere  can 
the  progress  and  improvement  of  this  institution 
be  more  clearly  traced  than  in  the  books  of  the 
two  decades  from  1890  on.     In  1910  the  Relig- 


CAUSES    AND    FACTORS  147 

ious  Education  Association  had  over  twenty- 
five  hundred  books  in  its  Exhibit-Library.  One 
fourth  of  these  books  dealt  with  principles  and 
methods  in  religious  education,  and  of  these  nearly 
every  one  was  written  after  1900.  The  creation 
of  this  new  and  highly  valuable  literature  indicates 
the  most  important  of  all  factors  in  Sunday-school 
progress;  that  educational  leaders  were  recognizing 
the  possibilities  of  the  school,  were  thinking  of  it 
seriously,  and  were  beginning  to  make  the  con- 
tribution of  their  technical  training  and  wide 
experience  to  its  improvement.  If  one  were 
asked  to  state  in  a  single  phrase  what  seemed 
to  be  the  single  factor  most  adequately  accounting 
for  the  remarkable  progress  made  by  this  institu- 
tion in  recent  times,  the  answer  would  have  to  be : 
the  recognition  of  its  place  and  possibilities  as  an 
educational  institution. 

The  new  life  in  the  school  found  expression,  also, 
in  new  boards  and  committees  in  the  denomina- 

T^        .  tions  and  new  tasks  committed  to  old 

Denomina-  .        .        , 

tional  boards  and  denominational  orgamza- 

Commissions  ^.^^^      j^   ^^^^^   expression    in    local 

churches,  as  in  the  Methodist  Church  at  Akron, 
Ohio,  where  a  new  type  of  building  for  the  school 
was  erected,  and  where  Lewis  Miller  was  given 
liberty  to  work  out  his  plans  of  gradation;  in 
Hyde  Park,  Chicago,  where  a  building  was  de- 
signed for  the  school  (used  also  for  the  congrega- 


148  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

tlon  for  fourteen  years)  and  where  the  president 
of  the  University  gave  himself  to  the  work  of 
organizing  a  Sunday-school  on  modern  educational 

principles. 

The    improvement    in    architecture    deserves 
especial  notice  because  it  was  the  recognition  of  the 

sound  educational  principle  of  the  im- 
Architecture  „  i       •      i  v.* 

portance  oi  proper  physical  conditions. 

It  was  significant,  also,  as  a  form  of  improvement 

which   cost   money,    a   sure   test   of    deep-seated 

earnestness.     The  first  advance  was  the  provision 

of   a   separate    room   for   the    school.     By   1880 

leading  churches  saw  the  necessity  of  constructing 

this  room  so  that  at  least  a  large  part  of  it  was 

easily  divided  into  many  small  class  rooms.  This 

was  the  plan  of  the  Beltram  school,  in  Philadelphia, 

the  Akron  school,  and  many  others  erected  about 

this  time.     Later  came  the  building  divided  into 

at  least  two  main  parts,  so  that  the  elementary 

and  the  advanced  pupils  met  and  studied  entirely 

separately.     Next  came  the  scheme  of  a  separate 

building  —  a  plan  which  had  been  in  operation 

in  many  English  schools  for  a  long  time.     But 

in  America  the  educational  purpose  and  the  needs 

of    classes    dominated    the    architecture    of    this 

separate    building.     Examples    of    early    special 

buildings  were  the  Central  Church  and  the  Brick 

Church,    of   Rochester,   New   York;   the  Kimler 

Memorial,  New  Jersey;  and  St.  Lucas  Church, 


CAUSES    AND    FACTORS  149 

Evansville,  Indiana.     Two  well-known  architects 

gave  special  attention  at    this    time    to   schools 

to   suit   modern   needs;    they  were  Clarence   H. 

Blackall,  of  Boston,  and  George  W.  Kramer,  of 

New  York.     In  1909  the  Colorado  and  the  South 

Dakota  Sunday  School  Associations  offered  prizes 

for  the  best  designs  of  modern  buildings  and  the 

former  issued  a  valuable  pamphlet  showing  useful 

plans.     This    year    the    office    of    the    Religious 

Education    Association    received    four    times    as 

many  inquiries  for  modern  educational  building 

plans  as  in  any  year  before. 

Given  a  suitable  building,  something  more  was 

needed  —  an  educator  to  direct  the  work.     Paid 

Directors  of  teachers    began    with    Robert   Raikes; 

Religious  paid  superintendents  were  rare  but  not 
Education  ,  ^  i         i       .      . 

unknown     at     the     begmnmg    of    the 

twentieth  century.  But  the  conception  of  the 
school  as  a  serious  educational  agency  demanded 
nothing  less  than  a  man  who  should  be  a  specialist 
in  religious  education.  The  first  step  in  this 
direction  was  taken  by  the  New  Haven  Religious 
Education  Federation,  which  in  1907  engaged 
the  Reverend  Harold  Hunting  to  do  for  the 
Sunday-schools  the  work  that  a  superintendent 
of  education  would  do  for  all  the  public  schools 
of  a  city.  The  next  year  an  important  step  was 
taken  by  several  churches  which  employed,  ex- 
clusively for  their  local  work,  Directors  of  Relig- 


150  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

ious  Education.  The  most  notable  example  was 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Buffalo,  New 
York,  since  it  called  to  this  position  a  man  of 
experience  and  one  who  had  for  years  specialized 
in  religious  education.  Its  Director,  the  Reverend 
William  H.  Boocock,  was  entrusted  with  the  task 
of  organizing  all  the  educational  work  of  the 
church  into  effective  unity.  Other  leading 
churches  followed  this  example  and  in  a  short 
time  the  Congregational  churches  in  Oakland, 
California;  Evanston,  Illinois;  Cleveland,  Ohio; 
and  Boston.  Baptist  churches  in  St.  Louis; 
Providence,  Rhode  Island;  Rochester,  New  York; 
and  other  churches  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia, 
and   New   York    were    employing   men   for    this 

work. 

The  Directors  of  Religious  Education  are  not 
parish  visitors  or  assistant  pastors;  their  sole 
Duties  of  business  is  with  the  educational  work 
Directors  ^f  ^i^^  church  centering  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  They  must  organize  it,  relate  its  parts 
and  activities,  bring  all  the  educational  work  of 
the  church  into  coordination  under  it,  and  set  up 
in  the  church  a  workable  and  effective  system  of 
religious  education.  They  are  really  educational 
experts,  specially  trained  and  ordained  to  this 
function  in  the  church.  This  new  office  and  new 
ministry  was  made  possible  through  the  develop- 
ing interest  in  religious  education,  and  the  courses 


CAUSES    AND    FACTORS  151 

of  training  offered  in  Chicago,  Yale,  Union,  and 
the  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy. 

One  other  interesting  development  took  place 
early  in  the  twentieth  century,  the  establishment 
Day  Kinder-  of  day  kindergartens  in  numerous 
gartens  churches.     They  continued  the  indirect 

religious  education  of  the  little  child  all  through 
the  week.  Their  work  led  to  the  adoption  of 
improved  kindergarten  methods  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  kindergarten  departments  in  the 
Sunday-schools. 

Another  notable  factor  in  Sunday-school  prog- 
ress was  the  extent  to  which,  particularly  under 
Source  of  the  stimulus  of  the  Religious  Education 
Specialists  Association,  distinguished  specialists  in 
religious  education  began  to  give  attention  to  this 
institution.  The  work  of  the  association  had  this 
effect,  that  while  it  brought  the  severest  criticism 
to  bear  on  the  school  it  turned  the  energies  of 
competent  critics  from  ridicule  and  derision  to 
serious  and  helpful  cooperation.  Leading  psychol- 
ogists like  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Edwin  D.  Starbuck, 
and  others,  leading  students  of  education  like 
Nicholas  M.  Butler,  George  A.  Coe,  WilHam 
H.  P.  Faunce,  and  other  authorities  in  pedagogy 
began  to  study  the  child  and  the  school  and 
to  offer  for  the  improvement  of  the  latter  the 
best  that  the  modern  science  of  education  could 
give. 


152  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Some  of  these  men  worked  steadily  in  Sunday- 
schools;  some  gave  their  attention  to  working 
Model  out  experiments  in  particular  schools 
Schools  Qj.  ^Q  organizing  model  schools,  as,  for 
example,  the  one  organized  at  Teachers'  College, 
Columbia  University,  New  York.  This  school 
was  transferred  to  Union  Theological  Seminary 
in  1910.  It  meets  in  class  rooms  at  the  Seminary, 
each  room  having  special  educational  equip- 
ment, trained  teachers,  and  careful  supervision. 
The  size  of  every  class  is  limited  and  all  the  work 
is  graded  on  modern  principles.  The  work  is 
conducted  under  the  direction  of  members  of 
the  staff  of  the  Seminary.  ! 

AVhatever  the  future  may  hold,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  by  the  advent  of  the  twentieth  century  the 
The  School  Sunday-school  had  entered  on  a  new 
in  the  New  era.  The  earnestness  with  which  its 
entury  people  had  supported  its  work  was  re- 
warded by  its  recognition  as  an  educational  agency. 
That  earnestness  was  carried  forward  into  new 
endeavors  for  efficiency.  No  longer  neglected 
by  the  church,  no  longer  derided  by  the  schools, 
no  longer  the  object  of  cheap  criticism  in  the  press, 
no  longer  calmly  and  uniformly  degraded  to  the 
basement  of  the  church,  no  longer  compelled  to 
carry  on  a  large  work  without  financial  support 
from  the  church,  but  recognized  as  the  great 
opportunity  of  the  church  for  childhood,  as  the 


CAUSES    AND    FACTORS  153 

central  and  specific  organization  of  the  church 
for  religious  education,  supported  by  public 
opinion,  stimulated  by  great  organizations,  studied 
and  aided  by  experts  and  specialists,  facing  the 
future  with  faith  and  open-mindedness,  who  can 
tell  what  the  coming  days  may  mean  to  the 
Sunday-school? 


XII 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER 

Our  modern  emphasis  on  the  training  of  the 
teacher  may  not  be  as  modern  as  we  sometimes 
think.  The  scribes  were  trained  men,  able  to 
read  the  Word  and  to  make  its  meaning  plain 
to  the  people.  The  teachers  in  the  synagogues 
were  trained  men.  Jesus  was  a  wonderful  teacher 
of  teachers.  As  Bruce  in  his  Training  of  the 
Tivelve  shows,  he  spent  a  large  part  of  his  ministry 
in  the  work  of  teacher-training.  The  teachers 
in  the  early  churches  were  usually  those  who  were 
devoting  their  lives  to  religious  work. 

The  development  of  the  science  of  education 
led  to  a  new  sense  of  the  importance  of  thorough 
professional  training  for  the  teacher  in  public 
education. 

Long    ago    such    sagacious    educators    as    the 

Jesuits   trained   the   teachers   for   their   religious 

schools    with    a    course    covering    from 
Pioneer  i    •      i     t 

Teacher  of   fifteen  to  eighteen  years  and  mcludmg 

Teachers       ^^^^^^^  practice   work.      Ratich,   of   Hol- 
stein   (born   1571),  one  of  the  little  known  but 

154 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   155 

most  far-seeing  of  European  educators,  spent 
his  time  in  advocating  to  teachers  the  sound 
principles  of  pedagogy.  Comenius,  of  Moravia 
(born  1592),  spent  years  of  his  Kfe  demonstrating 
his  theories  in  a  model  school  especially  for 
teachers.  Since  1837  ^  institutes  for  the  training 
of  teachers  have  been  held.  In  more  recent  times 
the  work  of  Horace  Mann  in  the  United  States 
gave  valuable  impulse  to  the  ideal  of  the  ade- 
quately trained  teacher. 

The  demand  for  the  training  of  the  teacher 
came  from  within,  rather  than  from  without.  It 
T  achers  ^ame  out  of  the  teachers'  consciousness 
Seeking       of  need  for  more  adequate  preparation. 

Preparation    a  ,   n     i.  *±.  '      *      ^^  j  li? 

At  nrst  it  was  principally  a  demand  tor 
preparation  on  the  subjects  to  be  taught.  Nearly 
all  the  early  lesson  books,  the  separate  and  inde- 
pendent little  texts,  attempted  to  meet  this  need 
by  suggestions  to  the  teacher  or  what  were  called 
"teacher's  aids."  Wlien  the  lesson  plans  were 
so  systematized  that  all  the  teachers  in  a  school 
were  teaching  the  same  lesson,  it  was  suggested 
that  these  teachers  should  meet  together  weekly 
for  advance  study  of  the  lesson.  The  weekly 
preparation  classes,  advocated  in  the  Sunday- 
school  literature  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  were  doubtless  the  forerunners  of  later 
organized  teacher-training. 

*  Brown,  Sunday  School  Movements,  p.  92. 


156  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Alongside  of  the  development  of  the  familiar 

weekly  teachers'  meeting  for  preparation  of  the 

.  -  lesson    another    and    more    important 

Special  1        1         1      T  1     -VT 

Training  for  movement  developed.    In  1827  the  JNew 

Teac  ing  York  State  Sunday  School  Union  recom- 
mended the  establishment  of  a  school  for  the 
training  of  Sunday-school  teachers.  In  1837 
Dr.  W.  E.  Channing  advocated  "An  institution 
for  training  men  to  train  the  young."  He  referred 
to  the  ideals  and  practices  of  public  educators. 
Ten  years  later  the  Reverend  D.  P.  Kidder,  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Sunday  School  Union,  applied  the  argument  to 
the  needs  of  religious  educators  and  strongly 
advocated  the  formation  of  "Normal  Sunday 
Schools."  He  asks,  "Why  should  not  Sunday- 
school  teachers  have  the  same  advantages  as  are 
offered  to  other  teachers  in  their  institutes?"^ 

Then  arose  the  prophet  of  teacher-training, 
John  H.  Vincent.  He  was  the  man  who  conceived 
The  Normal  the  normal  class  and  who,  by  his  steady 
Class  pleading  and  wise  planning,  did  more 

than  any  other  in  his  century  to  advance  Sunday- 
school  standards.  He  was  then,  in  1857,  pastor 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Jolict, 
Illinois.  He  organized  a  class  for  the  training  of 
teachers  in  his  own  school  and  called  it  a  Normal 
Class.     His  plan   was  to  give  teachers  a  broad 

1  See  The  Lesson  System,  by  Simeon  Gilbert,  p.  19, 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   157 

general  preparation,  of  an  elementary  character, 
in  the  facts  of  biblical  history,  geography,  litera- 
ture and  teaching,  church  history  and  the  Sunday- 
school. 

At  the  meeting  of  his  church  conference,  in 
Chicago,  October,  1860,  Mr.  Vincent  succeeded 
First  in  securing  the  adoption  of  a  resolution 

Institutes  calling  for  institutes  for  the  training  of 
Sunday-school  teachers.  He  urged  the  church 
to  give  them  the  advantages  received  by  public- 
school  teachers.  A  program  for  an  institute  was 
prepared  and  carried  out  at  the  meeting  of  the 
District  Convention,  in  Galena,  Illinois,  April, 
1861.  This,  probably  the  first  Sunday-school 
Institute  for  the  special  purpose  of  training 
teachers,  was  followed  by  others  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. In  the  same  year  an  institute  was  held  in 
Detroit.  Then  came  local  organizations  for  the 
maintenance  of  such  institutes.  At  the  conven- 
tion of  the  Cook  County  Sunday  School  Associa- 
tion, held  in  Chicago,  on  November  17,  1864, 
Mr.  Vincent  urged  the  organization  of  a  **  Perma- 
nent Sunday  School  Teachers'  Institute  for  the 
Northwest."  One  year  later  the  "Northwestern 
Sunday  School  Teachers'  Institute"  held  its  first 
meeting  in  Chicago.  Two  years  later  "The 
Training  Class  of  the  Chicago  Sunday  School 
Union"  was  organized.  Meanwhile  other  voices 
had  been  heard.     In  1864,  just  one  week  after 


158   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Mr.  Vincent  urged  organization  in  the  North- 
west, down  in  the  foothills  of  the  Alleghanies,  in 
Steuben  County,  New  York,  two  agents  of  the 
Sunday  School  Union  held  their  first  regular 
Institute.  These  men  were  Mr.  Ralph  Wells  and 
Mr.  Pardee.  For  the  few  remaining  years  of  Mr. 
Pardee's  life  he  devoted  himself  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  system  of  normal  training  for  teachers 
through  local  institutes. 

In  Buffalo,  New  York,  Mr.  J.  E.  Gilbert,  a 
public-school  principal,  established,  in  1865,  a 
monthly  paper  containing  training  lesssons  for 
Sunday-school  teachers.^ 

This  period,  immediately  following  the  Civil  War 
in  the  United  States,  was  the  period  of  awakened 
j^^  interest   in   the  work   of    the   Sunday- 

Teachers'     school  teacher.    Ample  evidence  of  this 

Awakening    .     «  i    •      .i  i  p  ■• 

IS  lound  m  the  number  ot  conventions, 

conferences,  and  institutes  which  were  held,  the 

articles  written  on  the  subject  of  the  teacher's 

responsibility,  and  the  endeavors  of  some  schools 

to  attain  rising  standards  of  work.     One  of  the 

most  interesting  efforts  in  this  direction  was  the 

establishment    of    what    were    called     "Biblical 

Museums."     These   were   collections   of   original 

objects,  or  reproductions  of  objects  of  interest  in 

Bible  lands  or  Bible  times,  illustrarting  manners, 

*  Mentioned  by  J.  L.  Hurlburt  in  address  at  convention  of  the 
Religious  Education  Association,  Boston,  February,  1905, 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   159 

customs,  geography,  dress,  literature,  and  kindred 

subjects.     Such  collections  were  often  taken  from 

school    to    school.     In    Great    Britain,    traveling 

exhibits  were  prepared  by  the  London  Sunday 

School    Union    and    sent    out    with    competent 

demonstrators     or     lecturers.     They    led     to    a 

remarkable    quickening    of    interest    in    biblical 

study  and  to  a  keen  realization  of  the  actuality 

of  the  lands  and  peoples  and  historic  reality  of 

the  incidents  recorded  in  the  Bible. 

Those  to  whom  the  word  Chautauqua  is  familiar 

as  a  generic  term  for  any  summer  assembly  of 

„,     ,  recreation  and  amusement,  with  a  smat- 

Chautau-  .  i  •    i      i 

qua's  Con-    tering  of  mstruction,  seldom  tmnk  that 

tribution  ^^^^^  great  movement  was  born  of  the 
Sunday-school.  The  parent  of  all  Chautauquas, 
Chautauqua,  New  York,  was  simply  a  place  for 
camp  meetings  until,  in  1874,  Dr.  John  H. 
Vincent  selected  it  for  a  Sunday-school  Assembly. 
The  purpose  of  this  Assembly  was  "To  hold  a 
prolonged  institute  or  normal  class,  occupying 
from  ten  to  fifteen  days  .  .  .  that  interest  may 
be  awakened  through  the  Church  on  the  subject 
of  normal  training  for  Sunday-school  workers." 
It  was  called  the  Sunday-school  Teachers'  Assem- 
bly. It  recognized  the  teacher-training  acti\aty 
of  a  number  of  the  denominations  and  provided 
so  broad  a  basis  for  work  that  it  has  always  been 
regarded  as  wholly  interdenominational  in  charac- 


160  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY- SCHOOL 

ter.  The  work  offered  comprised  lectures  and 
classes  in  the  methods  and  principles  of  Sunday- 
school  work,  in  biblical  history,  literature,  and 
geography,  with  demonstrations  of  class  work 
and  special  meetings  for  departmental  officers 
and  teachers.  The  Chautauqua  movement  soon 
embraced  many  other  general  cultural  interests 
outside  of  Sunday-school  methods  and  material. 
But  it  resulted  in  the  formation  of  an  Assembly 
Normal  Union,  and  this  later  led  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  International  Sunday  School  Normal 
Committee,  to  the  establishment  of  definite 
courses  of  normal  lessons,  to  the  preparation  of 
many  books,  both  those  designed  for  the  Chautau- 
qua Circles  and  others,  of  high  value  directly  to 
the  Sunday-school  teacher  and  to  the  stimulation 
of  popular  education.  For  thousands  of  persons 
it  meant  the  extension  of  the  period  of  cultural 
training  beyond  the  school  years  and  throughout 
life.  The  movement  ministered  to  the  training 
of  teachers  directly  through  its  Institutes  and  its 
Normal  Courses,  and  indirectly  by  stimulating 
large  numbers  of  teachers  to  broad  general  culture. 
In  1889  the  Illinois  Sunday  School  Association 
began  to  organize  classes  for  the  training  of 
Organized  teachers  and  to  make  teacher-training 
Teacher-  a  definite  part  of  its  work.  Later 
raining  ^^^  York,  Nova  Scotia,  Pennsylvania, 
and    other    states    and    territories    took    similar 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   161 

action.  As  a  result  a  large  number  of  institutes 
were  held  by  field  workers  and  others  and  many 
classes  were  organized.  But  every  man  worked 
in  his  own  way  and,  although  there  was  wide- 
spread interest  and  much  enthusiasm,  there  was 
no  attempt  at  unity  of  action  nor  any  effort  to 
secure  economy  through  cooperation.  However, 
when  the  Sunday-school  workers  began  to  take 
the  function  of  teaching  seriously  and  to  provide 
for  better  teaching,  the  churches  came  quickly 
to  their  aid.  Pastors  organized  classes,  the 
denominational  press  gave  attention  to  the 
teacher-training  movement,  and  leading  men  pre- 
pared text-books  for  these  classes.  A  very  large 
service  was  rendered  by  the  Reverend  Jesse  L. 
Hurlburt,  who  prepared  one  of  the  early  Normal 
Courses  for  the  Chautauqua  series.  His  book 
blazed  the  way  for  elementary  studies  for  Sunday- 
school  teachers.  Others  prepared  many  little 
manuals.  When  such  little  text-books  are  seen 
in  the  light  of  later  material  for  teachers,  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  they  were  prepared  for 
teachers  who  had  had  no  special  biblical  training 
and  who  were  in  a  large  number  of  instances 
without  any  generous  educational  advantages. 
Dr.  John  H.  Vincent  wrote  a  more  elaborate 
treatise  on  The  Modern  Sunday  School  which  was 
one  of  the  earliest  books  on  Sunday-school 
methods. 


162  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Following  the  action  of  the  states  already 
mentioned  the  matter  of  more  comprehensive 
Nation- Wide  P^^^^  ^^^  teacher-training  came  before 
Teacher-  the  International  Convention  meeting 
raining  ^^  Atlanta,  Georgia,  in  1899.  Again 
the  organized  Sunday-school  movement  was  in- 
debted to  the  workers  in  the  primary  depart- 
ments; for  the  recognition  of  the  importance  of 
teacher-training  at  this  convention  was  due  to 
the  work  of  Mrs.  J.  Woodbridge  Barnes,  chairman 
of  the  Central  Primary  Committee.  Mrs.  Barnes 
had  prepared  comprehensive  courses  for  primary 
teachers  and  the  primary  organizations  had 
established  classes  in  the  Primary  Unions  of 
various  cities.  They  had  set  up  for  primary 
teachers  standards  and  ideals  which  demanded 
their  thorough  training. 

Teacher-training  was  placed  on  a  basis  of 
permanency  and  dignity  when,  in  the  summer  of 
Department  1903,  a  Department  of  Education  was 
of  Education  organized  in  the  International  Associa- 
tion. Mr.  W.  C.  Pearce  was  appointed  the  first 
Teacher-training  Secretary.  The  steps  of  prog- 
ress taken  since  then  have  been:  (1)  the  general 
stimulation  of  the  organization  of  classes;  (2) 
the  standardization  of  the  work  and  the  require- 
ments for  elementary  diplomas;  (3)  holding  sev- 
eral conferences  of  experts  and  leaders  at  which 
the  needs  of  teachers  have  been  studied;  (4)  the 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   1G3 

extension  of  training  to  the  ministry  through  the 
theological  seminaries;  (5)  the  better  understand- 
ing of  requirements  of  interdenominational  work; 
and  (6)  training  courses  provided  in  the  curricula 
of  certain  colleges. 

Important  action  was  taken  at  a  conference, 
held  in  Philadelphia,  January  7,  8,  1908,  when 
First  Steps  ^^^  following  resolutions  were  unani- 
in  standard-  mously  adopted  by  representatives  of 
the  denominations,  Sunday-school  sec- 
retaries, and  other  educational  leaders: 

"It  is  the  sense  of  this  Conference  in  defining 
the  minimum  requirements  for  the  standardized 
course  for  teacher-training  that  such  minimum 
should  include: 

"Fifty  lesson  periods,  of  which  at  least  twenty 
should  be  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and 
at  least  seven  each  to  the  study  of  the  pupil, 
the  teacher,  and  the  Sunday  school.  That  two 
years'  time  should  be  devoted  to  this  course,  and 
in  no  case  should  a  diploma  be  granted  for  its 
completion  in  less  than  one  year. 

"That  there  should  be  an  advanced  course, 
including  not  less  than  one  hundred  lesson  periods, 
with  a  minimum  of  forty  lesson  periods  devoted 
to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  of  not  less  than 
ten  each  to  the  study  of  the  pupil,  the  teacher, 
the  Sunday-school,  church  history,  missions,  or 
kindred  themes.     That  three  years'  time  should 


164  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY- SCHOOL 

be  devoted  to  this  course,  and  in  no  case  should 
a  diploma  be  granted  for  its  completion  in  less 
than  two  years."  Other  resolutions  provided 
for  cooperation  with  the  denominational  agencies 
for  promoting  teacher-training  in  matters  of 
standards,  credits,  enrolment  of  pupils,  and 
issuance  of  diplomas. 

At  the  convention  in  Louisville,  in  1908,  Mr. 
W.  C.  Pearce  gave  figures  for  the  enrolment  of 
Large  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  seven  thou- 

Enrolments  g^nd  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
students  in  training  classes,  with  over  twelve 
thousand  graduates  during  the  three  years  pre- 
ceding. The  state  of  Pennsylvania  alone  re- 
ported over  fourteen  thousand  students  enrolled 
in  classes  for  teacher-training.  At  this  conven- 
tion Reverend  Franklin  McElfresh,  Ph.D.,  was 
appointed  teacher-training  Secretary  and  entered 
on  his  work  in  October  of  that  year.  In  the 
year  following  nineteen  hundred  and  seven  new 
classes  were  enrolled,  with  thirty-two  thousand 
six  hundred  and  fifty-eight  students. 

In  the  two  years  and  a  half  following  the 
Louisville  Convention  of  1908,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  pupils  were  enrolled  in 
teacher-training  classes  officially  recognized  by 
the  International  Sunday  School  Association,  and 
it  is  estimated  that  there  were  twenty-five  thou- 
sand in  other  classes.     During  the  same  period  the 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   165 

International  Association  issued  over  twenty-five 
thousand  elementary  teacher  training  diplomas. 

The  committee  on  education  of  the  Interna- 
tional Sunday  School  Association  rendered  valu- 
able service  also  in  formally  approving  the  courses 
of  teacher-training  published  by  the  denomina- 
tions and  by  other  persons.  A  special  committee 
of  five  passed  on  all  courses  and  the  same  com- 
mittee also  approved  text-books  for  the  training 
classes  and  text-books  for  the  International  Read- 
ing Circle.  The  latter  was  organized  to  enlist 
teachers  and  others  in  systematic  reading  of  the 
best  books  by  a  plan  of  a  five  years'  course  with 
one  book  to  each  year.  In  1910  there  were 
fifteen  approved  courses  of  study  for  the  elemen- 
tary training  work,  thirteen  approved  courses  of 
study  for  the  advanced  work. 

The  work  of  the  International  Association  in 

the    promotion    of    teacher-training    in    the    first 

T.  .  decade  of  the  twentieth  century  would 
Denomina-  "^ 

tionai  have  been  impossible  without  the  cordial 

Cooperation  ^^operation  of  the  Sunday-school  de- 
partments of  the  various  denominations.  The 
Methodist  church  gave  vigorous  support  to  all 
the  plans  and  prepared  normal  courses,  organized 
classes,  sent  out  special  workers,  and  awarded 
diplomas.  The  Baptists  organized  a  National 
Teacher  Training  Institute,  published  one  of  the 
most  complete  series  of  studies,  and  placed  their 


16G  EVOLUTION  OP  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

work  in  the  charge  of  Reverend  Henry  T.  Mussel- 
man.  The  Congregationalists  likewise  under- 
took seriously  to  promote  the  education  of  their 
teachers,  employing  special  officers  and  preparing 
some  material.  In  the  Episcopal  church  various 
boards  were  appointed  for  the  same  purpose, 
notably  in  the  Diocese  of  Massachusetts,  where 
the  Board  of  Education,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Educational  Secretary,  Reverend  Carlton 
P.  Mills,  arranged  a  comprehensive  course  of 
study. 

Another  contribution  was  made  to  the  training 
of  teachers  in  the  preparation  of  libraries  and  the 
Reading  arrangement  of  courses  of  reading  for 
Classes  teachers.  While  the  libraries  were  pre- 
pared by  denominational  or  by  private  enter- 
prise, they  formed  valuable  aids  to  teachers  in 
training.  The  books  were  made  available  by 
having  them  placed  conveniently  in  the  church 
or  in  the  Sunday-school  room,  or  by  circulating 
them  amongst  the  teachers. 

About  1870  Edward  Eggleston  urged  that  the 

theological  seminaries  should  be  aroused  to  the 

importance  of  the  Sunday-school  and 
Cooperation    ,     ,    .         i  •       ,^        ,      i       p 

from  led  to  share  m  the  task  oi  preparmg 

Educational    ]jqi\i  pastors  and  teachers  for  its  work. 
Institutions  ^ 

Two  years  later  Henry  C.  Trumbull 
delivered  his  now  familiar  Lectures  on  the  Sunday 
School  before  Yale  Divinity  School.     The  Lam- 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   167 

beth  Conference,  in  1888,  said,  "The  instruction 
of  Sunday-school  teachers  ought  to  be  regarded 
as  an  indispensable  part  of  the  pastoral  work 
of  the  parish  priest."  In  1905  the  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly  adopted  a  minute  calling  on 
theological  seminaries  to  establish  courses  in  the 
principles  and  methods  of  the  modern  Sunday- 
school.  At  the  Toronto  Convention  of  the  Inter- 
national Association  in  the  same  year  seventeen 
seminaries  were  reported  as  having  either  definite 
courses  or  lectures  on  this  subject.  The  Southern 
Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  at  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, had  a  professor  in  charge  of  Sunday-school 
work.  In  affiliation  with  the  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  in  1903,  was  established  the 
well  known  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy. 

Other  institutions  were  by  this  time  taking  steps 
toward  full  courses  in  Sunday-school  science.  An 
Theological  investigation  undertaken  by  the  Relig- 
Seminaries  JQ^g  Education  Association,  in  1907, 
showed  that  scarcely  any  of  the  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  theological  schools  in  the  United  States 
were  entirely  neglecting  the  Sunday-school,  and 
that  four  offered  courses  in  child-study;  twenty- 
four  in  educational  psychology  (nine  requiring 
the  work  for  a  degree);  twenty  offered  religious 
pedagogy;  thirteen  offered  courses  in  the  history 
and  organization  of  the  Sunday-school;  and 
twenty-two    had    lecture   courses   by   instructors 


168     EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

from  without.  Thirteen  institutions  permitted 
Sunday-school  workers  who  had  not  matriculated 
to  enter  the  classes  on  Sunday-school  subjects. 

On  February  13,  1908,  the  Religious  Educa- 
tion Association,  in  its  convention  at  Washington, 

D.  C,  passed  this  resolution: 
Overtures  tcx  •  ^    ^i  •  j       * 

for  Pro-  An    view    oi    the    pressmg    need    of 

fessional  leaders  who  can  properly  instruct  Sun- 
day-school teachers  and  others  in  the 
principles  and  methods  of  religious  education,  we 
urge  the  universities  to  provide  in  their  depart- 
ments of  education  for  specific  training  with 
reference  to  such  leadership," 

On  February  21st  of  the  same  year,  at  the 
invitation  of  Mr.  W.  N.  Hartshorn,  a  company 
^    ,  of  seventy-seven  representatives  of  the 

on  the  theological  seminaries  met  at  his  home 

Seminaries     j^  Boston  to  discuss  the  present  work 

of  the  seminaries  for  the  schools  and  to  devise 
plans  for  closer  cooperation  and  further  useful- 
ness. One  of  the  practical  results  of  this  con- 
ference was  the  adoption  of  the  plan  of  a  traveling 
lectureship  for  the  seminaries  in  New  England. 
Another  conference  was  held  at  the  same  place 
on  April  22,  1910,  to  discuss  "The  place  of 
religious  pedagogy  in  the  training  of  the  minister 
for  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school." 

A  notable  service  in  the  enlistment  of  the 
pastor  in  the  work  of  the  school  and  in  preparing 


EVOLUTION  OP  THE  TEACHER   169 

him  for  that  work  was  the  publication  of  a  book 

by  the  President  of  Brown  University,  WilHam 

A  Notable    H.  P.  Faunce,  LL.D.,  entitled.  The  Edu- 

^°°^  cational  Ideal  in  the  Ministry. 

By  the  end  of  the  first  decade  of  this  century 

it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  seminary  of  any  impor- 

,    .       tance  fails  to  have  either  definite  courses 
Conclusion      a       a     '       a      a  u      i 

ottered    m    bunday-scnool    science    or, 

better,  in  religious  education,  or  to  have  careful 

and  comprehensive  courses  of  lectures  by  experts 

in  these  subjects. 

In  Great  Britain  the  work  of  teacher-training 

has  not  received  quite  the  same  attention  as  in  the 

United  States.     It  has  been  conducted 

T  e  £icli  Gr~ 

Training  in    by  means  of  lecture  courses  principally, 

Britain         ^^^  ^^^^  recently  have  standards  for 

the  teachers  been  created. 

During  this  time  the  colleges  of  the  United 

States  were  not  altogether  indifferent  to  the  impor- 

In  Colleges     tance  of  the  Sunday-school.     Leading 

and  educators  urged  that,  since  the  business 

Universities 

of  the  college  was  to  train  its  people 

for   full    social    living,    these   institutions    should 

recognize    the   fact    that    many    students    would 

find  themselves  after  graduation  in  churches,  and 

that  work  in  the  Sunday-schools  would  be  part 

of  their  social  and  religious  duty.     They  began 

to  answer  the  rather  common  criticism  that  the 

college  unfitted  young  people  for  active  service 


170  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

in  the  church.     Beginning  with  the  opening  term 
of  the  fall  of  1908,  practical  work  in  teacher-train- 
ing was  carried  on  by  many  institutions.     The 
University  of  Chicago  established  a  department 
of  Religious  Education,  with  a  full  professor  in 
charge,    and    offered    courses    in    Sunday-school 
history,   methods,   pedagogy,   the   psychology   of 
religion.     They    correlated    the    work   offered    in 
the    department    of    General    Education    to    the 
department   of   Religious   Education.     Columbia 
University  had  many  similar  independent  courses 
which  were  later,  by  its  plan  of  correlation  with 
Union    Theological    Seminary,   organized   into   a 
regular  department  of  Religious  Education.     Both 
of  these  offered  the  usual  work  in  biblical  litera- 
ture which  was  open  to  all  students.     Yale  Uni- 
versity combined  the  work  in  biblical  literature 
with  courses  on  the  Sunday-school,  its  methods, 
pedagogy,  and  principles.     Here  valuable  labora- 
tory work  was  conducted  by  students   in    these 
courses  in  the  city  of  New  Haven.     Northwestern 
University  had  regular  courses  on  Education  in 
Religion  and  Morals.     Brown  University  cooper- 
ated  with   the  Providence   Biblical    Institute    in 
offering  classes  and  courses  of  lectures  for  Sunday- 
school  teachers  in  the  city.     The  State  University 
of  North  Dakota  cooperated  to  the  same  ends 
with  affiliated  denominational  schools.     The  State 
University  of  West  Virginia  conducted  a  summer 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   171 

school  for  Sunday-school  teachers.  The  State 
Universities  of  Iowa  and  of  Michigan  organized 
Schools  of  Rehgion,  so  that  practical  work  in 
religion  and  religious  methods  were  available  to 
all  students.  The  University  of  Minnesota  has 
two  courses  in  Religious  Education.  Otterbein 
University  also  has  several  courses  in  the  Sunday- 
school  and  Religious  Education.  Ripon  College  ^ 
had  a  regular  department  of  Religious  Education. 
Washburn  College  had  a  School  of  the  Bible 
which  aimed  especially  to  prepare  for  teaching 
the  Word,  and  in  1911  (Fall  term)  offers  a  regular 
course  designed  to  prepare  for  religious  teaching. 
Many  normal  colleges  and  teachers'  colleges  co- 
operated with  their  local  church  workers  in  con- 
ducting teacher-training  classes  and  in  giving 
courses  at  Sunday-school  institutes  and  the  like.^ 
This  list  is  not  exhaustive  but  simply  indicative 
of  the  awakening  and  profound  interest  of  the 
educational  world  in  the  teacher's  work  in  the 
Sunday-school. 

An  inquiry,  early  in  1910,  extending  to  twenty- 
six  of  the  leading  colleges  in  the  United  States, 
showed  that  the  presidents  of  nearly  all  these 
institutions  clearly  and  strongly  believed  that 
the  college  should  provide  training  with  a  view 

*  See  particularly  the  plan  of  cooperation  with  credits,  worked 
out  by  the  State  Normal  School  of  Colorado  and  described  iu 
Religious  Education  for  April,  1911, 


172  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

to   the    student's   later    service   in    the   Sunday- 
school.^ 

Summarizing  progress  in  teacher-training,  Dr. 
McElfresh  calls  attention  early  in  1911  to  the 
following  evidences  of  advance.  Nearly  twice 
as  many  students  officially  enrolled  as  had  any 
preceding  period;  the  increased  emphasis  on  the 
preparation  of  senior  scholars  by  means  of  train- 
ing courses;  the  recognition  of  the  training  class 
as  a  permanent  department  of  the  school,  under 
a  superintendent  of  education;  increased  use  of 
the  special  institute  for  advanced  study;  marked 
advance  in  scholarly  quality  of  the  text-books 
being  published;  increase  in  the  number  of  courses 
of  religious  pedagogy  and  psychology  in  theologi- 
cal seminaries  and  denominational  colleges,  and 
increased  number  of  Schools  of  Method. 

Another  encouraging  evidence  of  development 
was  seen  in  turning  the  teachers'  attention  from 
books  on  method  and  management  to  the  study 
of  the  great  principles  of  psychology  and  educa- 
tion. Sunday-school  libraries,  and  the  libraries  of 
colleges  and  universities,  found  it  necessary  to 
supply  themselves  with  the  principal  text-books 
on  these  subjects. 

1  The  detailed  statement  of  the  results  of  this  inquiry  will  be 
found  in  the  paper  on  The  Sunday-School  and  College  Leadership 
presented  at  the  World's  Sunday-School  Convention,  Washington, 
D.  C,  May  23,  1910,  and  published  in  the  proceedings  of  that  con- 
ventiorj, 


EVOLUTION  OF  THE  TEACHER   173 

Educational  interest  so  general  and  so  high  in 
character,  taken  together  with  the  remarkable 
increase  in  important  books  on  religious  educa- 
tion, indicated  the  new  place  into  which  the 
Sunday-school  and  the  Sunday-school  teacher  had 
come.  It  was  for  the  work  of  the  teacher  really 
the  beginning  of  the  new  era  of  dignity,  based  on 
eflSciency. 


XIII 

THE  SCHOOL  FOR  ADULTS 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  a  Quaker 
in  Birmingham,  England,  sought  to  do  for  adult 
men  what  Robert  Raikes  had  done  for  children. 
He  gathered  the  men  who  were  idly  standing  at 
the  street  corners  of  that  city  into  special,  separate 
adult  Sunday-schools.  The  schools  of  that  type 
continued  in  some  parts  of  England  as  separate 
schools  and  are  to  be  found  there  to  this  day. 

In  the  United  States  the  movement  for  adult 
classes  developed  in  the  Sunday-school.  Many 
Adult  schools     early     had     classes    especially 

Classes  designated  as  Bible  classes.  They  ordi- 
narily consisted  of  a  small  number  of  elderly  ladies 
and  gentlemen  who  took  more  interest  in  theories 
as  to  the  interpretation  of  Daniel  and  Revelation 
than  in  anything  else.  They  have  no  special 
relation  to  the  modern  class  movement.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  a 
few  men  in  different  places  began  to  gather  large 
groups  of  young  men  for  Bible  study  in  the 
Sunday-school.     One   of   the    earliest   and   most 


SCHOOL     FOR     ADULTS  175 

successful  of  such  classes  was  the  Hubbell  class, 
in  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  of  Rochester, 
New  York.  For  a  long  while  this  class  had  over 
one  hundred  members  with  an  average  attendance 
of  over  one  hundred.  A  yet  larger  class  met  in 
the  Immanuel  Baptist  Church,  in  Chicago,  under 
the  superintendency  of  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs.  These 
and  other  such  classes  attracted  much  attention 
and  pastors  sought  to  introduce  their  methods  to 
their  own  schools. 

In  1903  the  teachers  of  several  large  adult 
classes  in  Chicago  met  with  the  officers  of  the 
Special  Or-  County  Sunday  School  Association, 
ganization  They  planned  to  organize  a  men's  Bible 
class  union,  but  later  determined  to  make  the 
adult  class- work  a  regular  department  of  the 
activities  of  the  county  organization,  to  be  known 
as  the  adult  department,  and  to  include  classes 
for  both  men  and  women.  At  the  County  Con- 
vention held  in  the  same  year  these  plans  were 
carried  out.  In  the  same  year  the  organization 
was  carried  up  to  the  State  Convention  and  the 
state  department  of  adult  classes  was  organized. 
Later  the  state  of  Illinois  took  the  initiative  in 
the  adoption  of  a  distinctive  button  or  badge  for 
the  members  of  these  classes.  New  York  was 
the  next  state  to  adopt  the  organized  adult  class. 
Following  this  the  International  Association  or- 
ganized an  adult  class  department  at  the  Toronto 


176  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

convention  in  1905.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1909 
there  were  between  eight  and  nine  thousand 
classes  organized  with  an  enrohnent  of  over  two 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  members,  and  early 
in  1911  there  were  eighteen  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  classes  enrolled  with  the  International 
Sunday  School  Association. 

While  this  general  organization  was  being 
developed  many  kinds  of  classes  in  the  Sunday- 
school  were  being  organized  to  meet 
the  needs  of  men.  In  1890  a  class  of 
young  men  in  Syracuse,  New  York,  eighteen  in 
number,  formed  themselves  into  an  organization 
known  as  The  Baraca  Class.  Similar  classes  were 
quickly  organized  in  other  churches,  and  the 
special  movement  known  as  The  Baraca  took  its 
rise.  Eight  years  later  organizations  under  the 
name  of  Philathea  were  provided  for  young  women. 

Out  of  the  adult  class  movement  one  important 
development  came  for  the  Sunday-school  and 
Brother-  church,  namely,  the  organization  of 
hoods  Brotherhoods.     Wise  leaders  began  to 

organize  the  men  for  service  which  would  extend 
beyond  the  teaching  periods  of  the  school. 

There  have  been  two  stages  in  the  development 
of  the  Brotherhoods.  The  older  organizations. 
Brotherhood  as  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and 
Beginnings  Yh[\[^^  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Saint 
Andrew,  were  formed  about  1880.     The  Brother- 


SCHOOL     FOR     ADULTS  177 

hood  of  Saint  Andrew  was  at  first  only  a  federa- 
tion of  the  young  men  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  for  the  two  simple  purposes  of  daily  united 
prayer  and  individual  Christian  service.  Later 
there  were  added  junior  chapters  for  boys.  The 
organization  rapidly  spread  through  Canada, 
England,  and  the  British  Colonies. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip,  or- 
ganized in  1888,  included  men  in  all  the  denomi- 
Andrew  nations,  permitting  each  denomination 
andPhihp  ^^  have  its  own  council  and  officers. 
The  scope  of  activities  and  interests  was  similar 
to  that  of  the  first  Brotherhood.  The  first 
denominational  organization  of  the  brotherhood 
type  was  formed  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  1896. 

Later,  leaders  in  the  denominations  saw  the 
wisdom  of  bringing  together  the  existing  groups 

Denomi-        ^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  different  churches  into 

national         broad     national     orcranizations.      The 
Brotherhood    xi       i      .      •         x>       i       i         i 

Presbyterian  IJrotherhood  was  organ- 
ized first  and  soon  afterward  the  Baptist  Brother- 
hood, and  then  the  Congregational  Brotherhood. 
The  Presbyterian  Brotherhood  was  organized  in 
1906.  It  is  under  the  control  of  the  general 
assembly  of  that  church.  The  Baptist  Brother- 
hood, organized  in  1908,  establishes  local  chapters 
in  the  churches.  The  Congregational  Brother- 
hood was  organized  at  Detroit,  April,  1908. 


178  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

The  activities  undertaken  by  the  Brotherhoods 

were  the  stimulation  of  the  men  of  the  church 

for  the  world-wide  work  of  the  Kingdom, 

Activities 

coordinating  and  directing  the  tremen- 
dous powers  of  Christian  manhood  to  the  evangel- 
ization of  the  world  through  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel,  the  relief  of  distress,  the  institution 
of  personal  and  social  justice,  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  society  for  the  realization  of  the  Kingdom. 

At  first  these  adult  organizations  devoted  their 
attention  to  large  inspirational  gatherings,  but 
Ch  h  ^^^y  ^^^  ^^^  directing  their  energies 
Educating     rather  toward  social  and  philanthropic 

^^  service.     One  of  the  great  problems  for 

the  Brotherhoods,  as  well  as  for  the  Sunday-school, 
is  the  correlation  of  the  activities  of  the  Brother- 
hood to  the  educational  plan  of  the  school.  Leaders 
in  the  Brotherhood  movement,  cooperating  with 
leaders  in  the  Sunday-schools,  in  the  years  1909 
and  1910  particularly,  sought  to  effect  educational 
coordination  between  the  two.  In  the  report  of 
one  of  the  educational  commissions  of  the  Northern 
Baptist  Convention,  presented  at  their  Anniver- 
saries, May,  1910,  a  significant  recommendation 
was  adopted.  It  suggested  that  the  work  of  the 
Brotherhoods  and  the  Sunday-schools  should  be 
under  the  care  of  an  educational  commission  or 
board  in  each  local  church  and  that  all  their  work 
should  be  directly  conducted  by  the  "school  of 


SCHOOL     FOR     ADULTS  179 

the  Church."  This  name  was  suggested  as  ade- 
quate for  the  Sunday-school. 

A  highly  interesting  hterature  was  created  by 
the  rise  of  the  Adult  Class  and  Brotherhood 
Special  movements.  Nearly  all  the  great  de- 
Literature  nominations  proceeded  to  publish  quar- 
terlies and  magazines,  especially  for  these  classes, 
and  the  religious  press  frequently  contained  articles 
on  the  conduct  of  the  classes  and  on  the  nature 
of  educational  work  for  men  in  the  churches. 
There  was  soon  a  demand  for  special  courses  of 
study.  The  first  set  of  such  special  lessons  was 
issued  in  1906  on  The  Ethical  Teachings  of  Jesus. 
Later  these  were  followed  by  other  special  courses. 

The  most  important  aspect  of  the  Adult  Class 
movement  for  the  development  of  the  Sunday- 
school  lies  in  its  recognition  as  a  school 
that  deals  with  the  whole  of  the  religious 
life.  It  helped  to  complete,  so  far  as  the  persons 
to  be  educated  are  concerned,  the  circle  of  the 
scope  of  the  school.  The  Sunday-school  has  thus 
developed  from  an  institution  for  children  and 
youth  until  it  has  become  the  religious  educational 
agency  of  the  church  for  all  ages.  One  other 
important  factor  was  emphasized.  The  adult 
demanded  something  more  than  an  opportunity 
for  instruction;  he  sought  a  chance  to  serve. 
Hence  expressional  activities  were  soon  developed. 
Men    and    women    were    initiated    into    religious 


Significance 


180  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

educational  experiences  by  being  given  definite 
tasks  in  connection  with  their  classes.  Such 
forms  of  educational  endeavor  spread  downward 
through  the  school.  If  the  men's  class  could  do 
things  throughout  the  week  for  the  school  and 
as  part  of  school  life,  so  also  could  the  boys'  and 
girls'  classes. 

Another  important  contribution  from  the  adult 
classes  to  the  development  of  the  Sunday-school 
Practical  has  been  the  enriching  of  the  material 
Studies  Qf  study.  These  classes  afforded  splen- 
did opportunities  for  teaching  directly  the  prac- 
tical duties  of  the  Christian  life.  For  example, 
the  Hyde  Park  Presbyterian  Church  of  Chicago, 
in  1908,  offered  for  its  Adult  Class  a  course  in 
The  Social  Mission  of  Christianity.  Many  other 
classes  had  similar  social  studies.  Writing  in 
The  Standard  of  Chicago,  in  April,  1910,  Professor 
Edward  P.  St.  John  urged  that  the  Sunday- 
school  should  undertake  as  a  definite  part  of  its 
work  the  training  of  its  people  for  parenthood 
by  specific  courses  in  child  study.  Such  courses 
had  already  been  given  in  rare  instances.  . 

The  special  organization  of  Adult  Classes  and 

Brotherhoods  and  their  adoption  of 
t^o'iui^day"''  courses  of  general,  practical  study  in- 
School  dicate  important  developments  in  the 

conception  of  the  Sunday-school.  They 
mark  the  recognition  of  the  school  (1)  as  signifi- 


SCHOOL     FOR     ADULTS  181 

cant  to  the  lives  of  busy,  practically  minded  men; 
(2)  as  the  educational  agency  of  the  church  for  all 
her  people;  (3)  as  responsible  for  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  development  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  church;  (4)  as  having  a  sphere  of  action 
extending  beyond  the  teaching  hour  on  Sunday, 
and  (5)  as  committed  to  the  educational  plan 
of  developing  character  through  service. 


XIV 

THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  AND  BIBLE  STUDY 

In  the  twentieth  century  it  has  become  so 
much  the  custom  to  criticise  the  Sunday-school 
for  inefficiency  in  teaching  the  Bible  that  it  is 
easy  to  lose  sight  of  one  significant  fact,  that  no 
agency  has  done  more  to  promote  the  systematic, 
scientific,  and  general  study  of  the  Bible  than  the 
Sunday-school.  Modern  days  are  heavy  debtors 
in  this  respect  to  this  often  despised  institution. 
It  is  well  to  remember  this  when  it  sometimes 
seems  as  though  these  schools  were  setting  them- 
selves in  opposition  to  modern  and  scientific 
methods  of  Bible  study. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
the  Bible  was  used  in  three  ways:  (1)  for  reading 
More  in  the  services  of  worship  in  the  churches, 

Students  (^g)  for  texts  for  sermons  and  pulpit 
expositions,  and  (3)  for  private  or  family  reading. 
One  can  hardly  say  that  it  was  studied  at  all 
by  any  other  persons  than  the  preacher.  There 
was  no  popular  literature  of  biblical  exposition, 

182 


SCHOOL     AND     BIBLE     STUDY        183 

still  less  any  guides  in  its  historical  study.  The 
popular  religious  literature  of  the  times  was  con- 
fined to  a  few  volumes  of  sermons,  devotional 
essays,  and  to  some  strange  and  truly  fearful  works 
of  the  pious  imagination.  Save  for  the  few  Sun- 
day-schools, there  were  no  groups  of  persons 
engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Bible.  Even  these 
schools  were  in  the  greater  number  of  instances 
occupied  less  with  the  Bible  than  with  the  rudi- 
ments of  learning.  Today  we  have  an  immense 
popular  literature  of  biblical  study,  probably  the 
largest  on  any  single  subject  of  human  interest. 
We  have  not  only  our  many  thousands  of  Sunday- 
schools  engaged  almost  exclusively  in  Bible  study, 
but  also  thousands  of  classes  and  groups  gathered 
under  all  sorts  of  auspices. ^  Clubs,  societies, 
village  groups,  churches,  schools,  colleges,  and, 
in  addition,  hundreds  of  thousands  enrolled  as 
individuals  are  following  Hke  studies.  We  have 
also  many  organizations  and  institutions,  such  as 
The  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature, 
The  Bible  Study  Union,  and  the  correspondence 
departments  of  seminaries  and  training  schools, 
engaged  in  promoting  the  study  of  the  Bible 
according  to  modern  educational  ideals. 

Most  significant  of  all,  this  literature  is  often 
of  a  grade  as  high  as  that  found  in  any  line 
of    other   scholarly  inquiry   and   the   institutions 

1  See  C.  A.  Brand  in  Aims  of  Religious  Education,  p.  202. 


184  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

engaged  in  teaching  the  Bible  are  often  of  the 
first   educational   rank.      The    modern    world   is 

A  Higher  ^PP^yi^S  ^^  ^^e  study  of  the  Bible  the 
Grade  of  earnestness  and  thoroughness  which 
mark  all  modern  science  and,  at  the 
same  time,  is  seeking  to  make  the  results  of 
such  study  available  to  all  persons. 

How  have  these  changes  come  about .'^  Princi- 
pally through  the  Sunday-school,  for  that  institu- 
The  Bible  tion  has  been  the  initiating  power  and 
School  |-|^g   inspiration   to   this   movement   for 

Bible  study.  It  began  with  the  gradual  adoption 
of  the  Bible  as  the  source  of  material  and  the 
common  center  of  study  in  the  school.  Doubtless 
the  adoption  of  the  Bible  had  its  beginning  in  the 
use  of  portions  thereof  in  the  reading  primer  or 
even  in  the  use  of  its  ideas  in  the  spelling  book. 
This  is  illustrated  in  the  New  England  Primer, 
which  begins  the  alphabet: 

A.  In  Adam's  fall 
We  sinned  all. 

Although  Robert  Raikes  was  a  religious  man 
and  had  a  truly  religious  purpose  in  founding  his 
Adopting  schools,  he  did  not  design  them  as  Bible 
the  Bible  Schools.  But  as  they  used  parts  of 
the  Bible  in  teaching  ignorant  children  their 
lessons  in  reading,  the  teachers  naturally  explained 
some  of  the  passages,  while  the  pupils  developed 


SCHOOL     AND     BIBLE     STUDY        185 

interest  in  the  narratives  and  characters  described. 
In  America,  where  the  school  was  early  adopted 
by  the  churches,  the  process  of  magnifying  the 
Bible  was  much  more  simple  and  rapid.  It  soon 
became  the  one  text-book.  But  even  here  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  for  a  long  time  the  schools  con- 
tinued to  study  the  Bible  in  a  manner  suggested 
by  its  use  only  as  a  text  for  reading.  The  book 
was  studied  mechanically,  section  by  section,  each 
separately,  and  attention  was  fixed  apparently 
on  what  it  had  to  say  regarding  the  things  they 
were  taught  to  believe  rather  than  on  what 
the  book  really  is  and  on  what  its  peculiar  mes- 
sage is. 

Any  kind  of  study,  however,  demanded  help, 
elucidation,  further  text-books.  Teachers  of  the 
Text-books  Bible  in  the  Sunday-school  created  the 
and  Helps  demand  for  books  which  would  help 
them  in  Bible  study.  First  came  the  material 
for  the  pupil  in  the  form  of  leaflets  and  pamphlets. 
The  American  Sunday  School  Union  circulated 
printed  lessons  as  early  as  1827.  Later  these 
were  arranged  into  a  course  covering  five  years. 
At  the  same  time  a  number  of  question  books, 
really  modified  and  simple  form  of  catechisms, 
were  extensively  used  in  the  schools.  The  dif- 
ferent denominations  soon  began  to  prepare 
lessons  and  pupil  material  for  their  churches. 
Perhaps  the  first  were  issued  by  the  American 


186  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Baptist  Publication  Society  in  1840.  Then,  as 
this  material  developed  in  character,  the  teachers 
discovered  their  need  of  assistance  and  handbooks 
for  their  guidance  were  published.  As  early  as 
1829  the  Unitarians  had  prepared  manuals  for 
the  use  of  their  schools.  In  1865  The  Sunday 
School  Teacher,  published  in  Chicago,  offered  four 
separate  courses  of  study  and  gave  teaching  hints 
and  other  helps  to  the  teacher.  The  next  year 
the  Chicago  Sunday  School  Union  offered  a  course 
entitled.  Two  Years  With  Jesus.  These  were  the 
immediate  forerunners  of  the  Uniform  Lessons. 
The  Sunday  School  Union  of  Great  Britain  also 
published  a  Teacher's  Monthly  with  lesson  notes 
long  before  they  ever  thought  of  using  separate 
material  for  pupils.  In  the  American  schools  the 
simple  comments  a^d  expository  hints  were 
intended  to  be  useful  for  the  pupil's  preparation, 
as  well  as  for  the  teacher.  This  dual  aim  necessi- 
tated in  time  separate  pupils'  books,  and  so  we 
have  the  quarterly  text-books  on  the  Bible  lessons 
issued  in  cheap  pamphlets  four  times  a  year. 
These  were  the  first  popular  guides  to  Bible  study. 
Compared  with  more  recent  works  they  seem  poor 
enough,  but  they  were  pioneers,  and  the  pioneer's 
log  hut  makes  possible  the  city  later. 

With  such  beginnings,  though  the  process  of 
development  was  slow,  it  was  inevitable  that  a 
constantly  increasing  number  of  persons  should 


SCHOOL     AND     BIBLE     STUDY       187 

be  stimulated  to  intelligent,  studious  interest  in 
the  Bible.  Popular  commentaries  and  exposi- 
Popular  tions  were  written  to  meet  their  de- 
Literature  mands.  Then  followed  elementary  works 
on  biblical  history,  archeology,  geography,  man- 
ners, and  customs.  All  were  written  principally 
to  meet  the  special  needs  of  Sunday-school 
teachers  for  technical  information.  They  stimu- 
lated the  general,  popular  appetite  for  the  study 
of  the  Bible.  It  is  possible  definitely  to  trace 
the  development  of  biblical  study,  parallel  to  the 
development  of  the  Sunday-school,  in  the  chrono- 
logical record  of  the  publication  of  handbooks  on 
the  Bible  in  England  and  America.  The  wave 
of  interest  has  been  rapidly  ascending  since  about 
1900  and  at  this  time  the  study  of  the  Bible 
by  experts  is  on  a  par  with  other  sciences, 
while  the  material  for  popular  study  is  at  least 
as  rich  and  varied  as  in  any  other  realm  of 
knowledge.^ 

The  Sunday-school  developed  institutions  and 
organizations  for  the  study  of  the  Bible  by  its 
By  Teacher-  organized  efforts  in  teacher-traitiing. 
training  Normal  courses  were  projected  by  the 
"department    of    instruction"    of    the    Sunday 

*  For  evidence  of  this  see  the  Bibliography  published  (for  free 
circulation)  by  the  Religious  Education  Association  on  graded  text- 
books on  the  Bible.  This  pamphlet  gives  twelve  pages  of  titles  of 
text-books. 


188  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

School  Board  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  1840.  They  were  followed  before  long  by 
numerous  other  agencies.  This  teacher-training 
work  placed  all  its  early  emphasis  on  the  study 
of  the  Bible.  The  interest  in  methods,  pedagogy, 
and  psychology  arose  much  later.  The  text- 
books, fortunately,  did  not  expound  the  particular 
lessons  but  offered  courses  in  biblical  geography, 
history,  archeology,  and  kindred  subjects.  Most 
of  the  work  was  done  in  classes,  but  this  was  not 
always  possible,  and  so  we  find  systems  devised 
for  the  study  of  the  Bible  by  correspondence. 
Teachers  realized  their  ignorance  of  sacred  litera- 
ture and  refused  to  be  content  with  the  meager 
preparation  afforded  by  lesson  helps,  designed 
only  to  tide  the  teacher  over  the  immediate  needs 
of  each  session.  They  sought  the  freedom  and 
power  which  broad,  general  knowledge  of  a  sub- 
ject alone  can  give.  But  they  were  working 
people  often  and  could  not  go  to  theological  and 
biblical  schools.  To  meet  their  needs  these 
schools  and  other  colleges  prepared  courses  which 
could  be  taken  by  correspondence.  Special  insti- 
tutions were  also  created  to  meet  this  need,  as 
The  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature  at 
Chicago.  The  necessities  of  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  thus  brought  into  existence  one  more 
agency  for  the  popularization  of  the  study  of  the 
Bible. 


SCHOOL     AND     BIBLE     STUDY       189 

The  modern  Sunday-school  has  also  extended 
the  study  of  the  Bible  by  institutes,  summer 
assemblies,  and  lecture  courses.  At 
Chautauqua  and  the  other  older  assem- 
Jblies  the  distinctive  feature,  that  which  drew 
large  numbers  year  after  year,  was  the  work  in 
the  Bible.  Here  great  teachers  like  William  R. 
Harper  lectured  before  immense  audiences  and 
made  the  Bible  a  new  book,  a  book  of  life  to  many. 

These  various  agencies  and  activities  growing 
out  of  the  life  and  needs  of  the  modern  Sunday- 
school  and  operating  outside  its  local  organiza- 
tion constitute  a  great  and  definite  contribution 
to  Bible  study.  It  has  given  rise  to  many  text- 
books, study-courses,  lecture-courses,  and  much 
current  literature  on  the  Bible. 

The  most  significant  development  in  Bible  study 

has  taken  place  within  the  school  itself.     To  a 

T  xj  *  degree  far  greater  than  has  yet   been 

Influence  of       °  i-      i       i         o.        i 

New  View    generally    realized    the    Sunday-school 

of  Bible  j^^g  been  influenced  by  the  changing 
conceptions  of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  has  in- 
creased in  significance  and  value  to  men  as  our 
views  of  it  have  changed.  The  change  in  view 
came  about  through:  (1)  the  acceptance  of  the 
principle  of  the  unity  of  the  universe  and  the 
reign  of  law  therein;  (2)  the  increased  flood  of 
light  in  general  and  historical  knowledge  which 
was  thrown  on   the  ancient  records;   (3)   closer. 


190  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

more  painstaking  and  skilled  study  of  the  Bible. 
In  the  measure  that  the  Sunday-school  seriously 
attempted  educational  work  it  felt  the  influence 
of  scientific  thinking;  almost  unconsciously 
teachers  and  pupils  both  applied  their  habitual 
thought  methods  to  the  Bible  and  they  discovered 
a  new  book.  The  Sunday-school  came  into  the 
possession  of  a  living  literature,  born  of  the  lives 
of  men,  containing  records  of  their  genuine  experi- 
ences, crowded  with  personal  values,  and  therefore 
invaluable  to  every  life. 

This  change  of  view  brought  about  important 
changes  in  Sunday-school  methods.  The  training 
Effect  on  ^^  teachers  in  biblical  knowledge  became 
Teacher-  imperative.  So  long  as  all  parts  of 
the  Bible  were  regarded  as  of  equal 
value,  of  equal  moral  authority,  and  all  as  designed 
expressly  for  teaching  Sunday-school  lessons  and 
preaching  sermons,  the  teacher  easily  got  all 
necessary  lesson  preparation  in  a  general  weekly 
meeting.  But  if  the  Scriptures  can  only  be  under- 
stood as  written  by  many  kinds  of  men,  in  varying 
ages  of  the  world,  and  influenced  by  time,  race, 
and  country,  the  teacher  must  know  the  times, 
the  races,  and  the  countries.  The  historical 
interpretation  makes  historical  study  and  geo- 
graphical study  necessary;  it  leads  into  the  fields 
of  literary  history,  of  the  development  of  moral 
ideas,  and  of  comparative  religion.     So  teacher- 


SCHOOL     AND     BIBLE     STUDY        191 

training  became  something  vastly  more  important 
and  interesting  than  acquiring  facility  in  repeating 
the  names  of  the  books  of  the  Bible,  the  chronol- 
ogies, and  a  few  proof -texts.  The  teacher-train- 
ing courses  which  provided  for  thorough  study 
of  biblical  history  and  literature,  geography  and 
racial  customs  and  ideas  grew  out  of  the  new 
demands  made  on  teachers  by  the  new  view  of  the 
Bible. 

The  new  view  of  the  Bible  modified  greatly 
the  curriculum  of  the  Sunday-school.  It  became 
Effect  on  evident  that  not  all  parts  of  the  Bible 
Curriculum  ^^j.^  ^f  equal  value,  that  some  parts 
were  of  no  value  whatever  to  the  life  of  a  little 
child  and,  also,  that  others  were  of  greater  value 
to  the  child  than  to  any  other  persons.  Two 
great  conceptions  came  before  the  vision  of  Sun- 
day-school workers  at  the  same  time.  They 
were:  (1)  that  the  Bible  was  the  product  of  a  long 
historical  development,  and  (2)  that  religious 
character  is  the  result  of  a  process  of  develop- 
ment. Sunday-school  leaders  sought  to  adapt 
the  material  of  a  developing  religious  conscious- 
ness in  a  great  literature  to  the  developing 
religious  life  of  youth.  This,  in  large  part,  is 
what  the  graded  curriculum  means. 

The  Sunday-schools  that  felt  most  directly  the 
changes  in  view  as  to  the  Bible  have  passed  safely 
through   the    crucial    period    of    change.     While 


192  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

admitting  the  uses  of  other  materials  of  study 
for  the  development  of  religious  character  the 
A  New  Bible  is  still  the  one  text-book.  But  it  is 
Bible  j^Q  longer  a  book  studied  for  itself,  as  a 

thing  to  be  learned.  It  is  the  book  which  minis- 
ters through  life  to  life.  The  Bible  has,  in  these 
changes  and  through  the  popular  work  of  the 
Sunday-school,  won  a  new  place  in  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  people.  It  takes  its  place  with  all 
other  subjects  of  study.  It  asserts  its  own 
leadership  in  the  religious  life.  It  is  no  longer 
regarded  as  too  sacred  to  be  studied  with  scientific 
sincerity  and  earnestness.  Neither  can  anyone 
afford  to  neglect  it.  It  is  recognized  as  the  richest 
and  finest  of  all  our  literature  and  as  the  very 
bread  of  life  to  men.  It  has  come  to  pass  that 
men  no  longer  apologize  for  reading  this  book  or 
fear  or  are  ashamed  to  give  their  best  energies 
to  its  careful  study. 


XV 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL   AND   LIBRARIES 

It  is  said  that  in  1720  there  was  only  one  par- 
ish hbrary  in  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia  and 

Early  that  this  one  had  in  it  three  volumes. 

Libraries      ^^  ^^^  Q^\y  ^|g|j  ^^  knew  what  they 

were.  Henrico  College  had  had  a  library  but 
it  had  probably  been  scattered  by  the  Indians. 
Franklin  started  his  subscription  libraries  in 
Philadelphia  in  1731.  There  seem  to  have  been 
only  two  free  libraries  established  in  America 
in  that  century,  one  at  Newport  and  the  other 
at  Philadelphia.  Both  were  founded  by  private 
gifts  and  it  was  not  until  about  the  middle  of  the 
next  century  that  there  were  any  further  steps 
toward  the  creation  of  free  libraries.  Little 
did  men  think,  when  they  heard  of  the  school 
for  destitute  children  being  formed  in  England  by 
the  printer  Raikes,  that  there  was  a  movement 
which  should  do  more  for  the  popularization  of 
reading  amongst  all  classes  and  for  the  institution 
of  public  libraries  than  any  other  single  agency. 
The  free  public  library  owes  more  to  the  much 

193 


194  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

despised  Sunday-school  library  than  we  have  been 
accustomed  to  reckon.  The  Sunday-school  library 
trained  the  great  middle  classes  to  reading  books, 
and  when  the  taste  for  reading  grew  beyond  the 
vision  of  the  Sunday-school  and  its  library  seemed 
a  lamentable  failure,  the  public  library  became  an 
imperative  necessity. 

Raikes  gathered  his  pupils  to  teach  them  read- 
ing.    As  they  learned,  he  had  to  provide  reading- 
books  and  especially  primers,   for  the 
Popular        Bible   which  he   wished  them  to  read 
Reading       ^^^  really  too   difficult  for  beginners. 

Primers  ^  ° 

Then,  when  he  had  taught  them  to  read, 
he  realized  that  it  would  be  wise  to  have  other 
good  books  in  their  hands  besides  the  Bible.  Two 
years  after  his  schools  were  first  organized,  he 
printed  a  little  text-book  for  his  classes.  Three 
years  later  there  was  published  a  small  book  called 
The  Sunday  School  Scholar's  Companion.  It  was 
a  strange  collection,  from  our  point  of  view,  of 
selections  from  the  Bible,  the  English  Prayer 
Book,  the  Catechism,  and  Watt's  Hymns.  Yet 
that  book,  or  one  very  like  it,  was  used  in  many 
schools  well  on  toward  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century;  the  writer  remembers  some  dry  meals 
thereon. 

In  1790  Jonas  Hanway  prepared  and  published 
A  Potpourri  for  the  Sunday  School.  It  is  difficult 
to   picture   these   little,   crude,  smuttily    printed 


SCHOOL     AND     LIBRARIES  195 

books,  with  rude  woodcuts.    But  tliey  were  treas- 
ured by  those  to   whom  a  book    was  as  great  a 

wonder  as  an  aerodrome  is  to-day.   Thev 
Early  ,    ,  ,  .,     .  "^         .   / 

Sunday-       were   taken  home  that   parents   might 

School  dehght  in  the  attainments  of  their  chil- 

dren as  they  read  aloud  from  the  pages. 
Then  one  book  quickly  led  to  another,  until  the 
home  found  a  little  shelf  for  books  quite  necessary. 
Fifty  years  ago,  in  Great  Britain  at  any  rate  and 
largely  in  the  United  States,  there  were  few  homes 
of  working  people  where  more  than  one  small  shelf 
was  necessary.  But  the  books  in  those  earlier 
days  were  quite  likely  to  come  from  the  Sunday- 
school  and  were  almost  sure  to  be  thoroughly 
religious  books.  When  the  system  of  public 
education  was  but  in  its  beginning,  the  Sunday- 
schools  were  sending  good  reading  matter  into 
the  homes  of  the  people. 

There  might  be  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  quality  of  the  reading  matter.  At  first  the 
Reading  Sunday-school  books  were  such  as  Goody- 
Books  Two-Shoes  and  Cock  Robin;  then  came 
Pilgrinis  Progress  and  later  Robinson  Crusoe, 
Martyrdom  of  John  Rogers,  and  Poems  for  Children, 
the  latter  by  Charles  Lamb.  Just  about  one 
hundred  years  ago,  the  first  traces  appear  of  that 
dreadful  milk-and-water  type  of  Sunday-school 
book,  Ellen,  or  The  Naughty  Girl  Reclaimed.  Then 
followed  a  flood  of  books  about  children  too  good 


196  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY- SCHOOL 

to  stay  with  mortals,  books  which  made  anemia  a 
sure  sign  of  spiritual  grace.  But  they  were,  after 
all,  better  books  than  the  people  had  had  before. 

Stranger  still  were  the  kinds  of  books  to  be 
found  in  Sunday-school  libraries  in  the  next  few 
decades.     A    book    published    in     the 
sindiy-^      middle  of  the  last  century  lies  before 
School         ^Y^Q  writer;  in  it  one  is  urged  to  read 
Edwards    on    The   Affections,   Alleine's 
Alarm,  Baxter's  Sainfs  Rest,  Pike's  Persuasiveness 
to  Early  Piety,  and  for  younger  ones,  Fletcher's 
Lectures    to    Children,    Pious    Children,    Withered 
Branch   Revived,    Gallaudet's    History   of    Jonah, 
Scriptural  Alphabet  of  Animals,   Walker's   Faith 
Explained    and    Repentance    Explained.     An    ex- 
cellent example  of  combining  tales  of  daring  and 
adventure   with   pious   dissertations   to   youth   is 
found  in  Campbell's  Juvenile  Cabinet.^     The  lugu- 
brious death-bed  pictures  and  the  wood-cuts  of 
scriptural  and  heavenly  scenes  give  one  a  striking 
insight  into  the  general  aspects  of  the  teaching 
imparted  to  the  youth  of  that  day. 

To  Boston,  Massachusetts,  belongs  the  credit 
for  the  establishment  of  the  first  Sunday-school 
First  library.     This  was  in  1812.     About  this 

Library        ^[^^  American  publishers  first  began  the 
manufacture  of  books  especially  for  such  libraries, 

1  Published,  London,  1825,  and  contains  an  interesting  reference 
to  Sunday-schools. 


SCHOOL     AND     LIBRARIES  197 

SO  that  by  1830  the  American  Sunday  School 
Union  had  its  imprint  on  two  hundred  Sunday- 
school  library  books. 

The  American  Sunday  School  Union  played  an 
important  part  in  the  development  of  this  depart- 
ment of  the  Sunday-school.  Its  Com- 
Schooi  Union  mittee  on  Publications  edited  and  issued 
Libranes  ^^^  earliest  primers  and  catechisms, 
selling  them  to  schools  at  less  than 
cost.  It  also  circulated,  by  means  of  the  schools, 
an  immense  number  of  tracts.  These  small  pam- 
phlets, often  short  sermons,  essays  on  religious 
subjects,  stories,  or  arguments  for  articles  of  the 
faith,  were  at  one  time  a  valuable  part  of  the  ma- 
terial used  in  the  Sunday-school.  Packages  were 
sent  to  schools  and  visitors  carried  them  regularly 
to  scattered  readers.  Before  the  days  of  the 
huge  newspapers  —  measured  by  avoirdupois  — 
and  the  large  cheap  magazines  these  tracts  were 
heartily  welcomed  and  furnished  a  large  part  of 
the  reading  of  a  great  number  of  people.  Their 
circulation  in  the  Sunday-school  contributed  to  the 
general  educational  advance  of  the  country.  The 
Sunday  School  Union  and  the  American  Tract 
Society  in  the  United  States,  and  the  Religious 
Tract  Society,  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and 
the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge 
in  England,  continued  for  many  years  —  the 
English  societies  to  this  day  —  the  publication  of 


198  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

large  numbers  of  books  suitable  for  youth,  both 
fiction  and  travel,  history  and  biblical  study. 

Encouraged  by  the  societies  and  the  publishers, 

libraries  spread   rapidly,   until,   by   1880,  it  was 

difficult  to  find  a  Sunday-school  in  any 

School"       village   or   city   in   the    United   States 

Libraries      without   its   library.     In   England   the 

ana  .       , 

Public  Sunday-school    library    never    attanied 

Libranes  ^^  anything  approaching  the  same  popu- 
larity. Not  many  years  later,  however,  it  was 
realized  that  the  Sunday-school  library,  as  an 
agent  for  the  dissemination  of  general  religious 
literature,  had,  speaking  generally,  completed 
its  work.  The  development  and  increase  of 
public  libraries,  instituted  and  maintained  often 
by  public  funds,  provided  a  sufficient  supply  of 
general  literature.  At  the  same  time  the  growing 
spirit  of  religious  toleration  made  it  possible  for 
these  libraries  to  carry  a  large  amount  of  religious 
literature.  It  is  now  quite  common  to  find  the 
progressive  public  library  meeting  all  the  needs 
of  Sunday-school  teachers.  Several  issue  special 
bulletins  giving  lists  of  books  available  on  special 
subjects,  as,  for  example,  on  some  course  of 
lessons  or  on  some  department  or  interest  in 
teacher-training  or  in  biblical  research.  The 
large  resources,  ample  facilities,  and  trained  service 
of  the  public  library  has  rendered  the  general 
Sunday-school  library  no  longer  a  necessity  in  a 


SCHOOL     AND     LIBRARIES  199 

great  number  of  places.  Largely  on  this  account 
schools  are  giving  up  their  attempts  to  compete 
with  the  public  library.  Perhaps  the  first  large 
school  to  acknowledge  this  order  of  things  was 
the  Calvary  Baptist  Sunday  School  of  New  York. 
In  1903  they  discontinued  their  library  on  account 
of  the  superior  facilities  of  public  libraries. 

With  the  abandoning  of  the  old  general  library, 
there  came  a  substitute  of  greater  value,  the 
Special  teachers'  and  workers'  reference  library. 
Libraries  -j^j^jg  consisted  of  books  of  reference 
on  special  subjects,  such  as  child-study,  peda- 
gogy, biblical  history,  literature,  and  exegesis. 

This  brief  survey  of  the  library  in  the  Sunday- 
school  would  be  incomplete  without  mention  of 
the  development  of  the  periodical  lit- 
erature for  the  school.  The  Friendly 
Visitor  was  the  first  Sunday-school  paper.  It 
was  established  in  London  in  1819.  It  was 
really  a  penny  tract,  published  monthly.  In 
later  years  it  was  fairly  well  printed  and  contained 
some  well-told  stories.  Four  years  later  the  first 
illustrated  Sunday-school  paper  appeared.  The 
Teacher  s  Offering.  In  America  periodical  lit- 
erature at  first  took  the  form  of  lesson  helps.  The 
earliest  were  printed  on  cards  and  these  gradually 
grew  into  the  more  ample  series  of  lesson  monthlies 
and  quarterlies.  One  of  the  most  important 
influences   in   the   development   of   the   Sunday- 


200  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

school  has  been  the  circulation  of  this  literature. 
Important  service  was  rendered  by  the  discussion 
of  Sunday-school  principles  and  problems  in  the 
columns  of  papers  like  the  Sunday-school  Journal 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  churches  and  the 
Sunday  School  Times  which  was  founded  in  1868. 
The  latter  made  history  in  many  ways,  especially 
under  the  editorship  of  that  prince  of  Sunday- 
school  leaders  and  prophets,  Henry  Clay  Trum- 
bull. 


XVI 

THE   RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION 
ASSOCIATION 

The  Religious  Education  Association  in  its 
inception  and  organization  was  simply  the  ex- 
pression of  the  conviction  of  many  at  the  end  of 
the  nineteenth  century  that  the  time  had  come 
to  place  the  educational  work  of  the  church  and 
other  religious  agencies  on  a  level  of  efficiency 
with  the  forces  of  general  education  and  also  to 
set  above  all  the  aim  and  ideal  of  the  developing 
religious  character.  Many  persons  felt  the  need 
of  a  new  organization  to  meet  the  situation.  The 
initial  step  was  taken  by  a  body  known  as  the 
Council  of  Seventy  which  was  engaged  in  direct- 
ing the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature 
organized  by  William  R.  Harper,  then  President 
of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

The  first  steps  toward  organization  were  taken 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Senate  of  the  Council,  August 
Organiza-  20,  1902.  At  a  meeting  of  the  same 
^^^  body,  held  in  Chicago  on  October  13, 

1902,  a  formal  call  was  authorized  for  a  national 

201 


£02  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

convention  to  meet  in  Chicago  in  February  or 
March,  1903,  to  effect  this  organization. 

This  call  read  as  follows: 

"We,  the  undersigned,  members  and  associate 
members  of  the  Council  of  Seventy,  and  others, 
believing  — 

"1.  That  the  religious  and  moral  instruction 
of  the  young  is  at  present  inadequate,  and 
imperfectly  correlated  with  other  instruction  in 
history,  literature,  and  the  sciences;  and 

"2.  That  the  Sunday-school,  as  the  primary 
institution  for  the  religious  and  moral  education  of 
the  young,  should  be  conformed  to  a  higher  ideal, 
and  made  efficient  for  its  work  by  the  gradation 
of  pupils,  and  by  the  adaptation  of  its  material 
and  method  of  instruction  to  the  several  stages  of 
the  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  growth  of  the 
individual;  and 

"3.  That  the  home,  the  day  school,  and  all 
other  agencies  should  be  developed  to  assist  in 
the  right  education  of  the  young  in  religion  and 
morals;  and 

"4.  That  this  improvement  in  religious  and 
moral  instruction  can  best  be  promoted  by  a 
national  organization  devoted  exclusively  to  this 
purpose, 

"Unite  in  calling  a  convention,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  Council  of  Seventy,  to  assemble  in  a 
city  to  be  designated  (Chicago),  in  the  month  of 


EDUCATION     ASSOCIATION  203 

February  or  March,  1903,  for  the  creation  of  such 
a  national  organization,  the  convention  to  consist 
of  (a)  members  and  associate  members  of  the 
Council  of  Seventy;  (b)  invited  teachers,  minis- 
ters, and  editors;  (c)  invited  pastors  of  churches 
and  superintendents  of  Sunday-schools." 

The  signatures  returned  to  this  call  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  and  from  persons  in  all 
Public  departments  of  religious  education  indi- 

Interest  cated  spontaneous,  earnest,  and  wide- 
spread enthusiasm  favoring  such  a  plan.  The 
Council  of  Seventy  immediately  appointed  a 
number  of  committees  to  carry  out  the  plans 
for  a  national  convention.  Prof.  George  L. 
Robinson  of  McCormick  Theological  Seminary 
was  chairman  of  the  General  Committee,  with 
President  William  R.  Harper  as  chairman  of  the 
Program  Committee. 

The  convention  was  held  in  Chicago,  February 
10-12,  1903.  Four  hundred  and  seven  signers 
First  of  the  call   were  present,   representing 

Convention  twenty-three  states  of  the  Union  and 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  including  forty 
presidents  of  universities  and  colleges,  many 
deans  and  professors  of  theological  seminaries, 
and  many  Sunday-school  and  other  religious 
workers.  The  public  meetings,  held  in  the  great 
Auditorium  theater  which  seats  about  six  thou- 
sand people,  attracted  wide-spread  attention.  The 


204  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

business  meetings  were  held  in  churches,  and  the 
one  in  which  the  organization  was  effected  was 
held  at  the  University  Congregational  Church, 
Hyde  Park,  Chicago.  The  first  president  was 
Reverend  Frank  Knight  Sanders,  Ph.D.,  then 
Dean  of  the  Yale  Divinity  School.  Nicholas 
Murray  Butler,  LL.D.,  president  of  Columbia 
University,  was  first  vice-president,  and  William 
R.  Harper,  LL.D.,  was  chairman  of  the  Executive 
Board. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year  there  was  held  in 
Philadelphia  a  convention  lasting  three  days. 
Second  at  which  over  one  hundred  addresses 
Convention  ^^re  made  by  men  of  national  reputa- 
tion, on  the  general  theme,  "The  Bible  in  Practi- 
cal Life."  At  this  convention  the  organization 
began  to  correlate  its  activities;  seventeen  specific 
departments  were  equipped  with  oflicers  and 
launched  on  missions  of  investigation  and  experi- 
ment in  their  special  problems  and  activities. 

The  fields  of  these  departments  are  indicated 
by  their  titles  as  follows:  The  Council  (studying 
Depart-  the  principles  of  religious  education), 
ments  Universities  and   Colleges,   Theological 

Seminaries,  Churches  and  Pastors,  Sunday-schools 
and  Teacher  Training,  Secondary  Schools,  Ele- 
mentary Public  Schools,  Fraternal  and  Social 
Service,  Home,  Religious  Art,  Young  People's 
Societies,  Christian  Associations, 


EDUCATION     ASSOCIATION         205 

Meanwhile  the  Association  had  engaged  Dr. 
Ira  Landrith  as  general  secretary  and  he  served 
General  in  that  office  until  about  the  end  of  that 
Officers  year.  He  was  succeeded  by  Clifford 
W.  Barnes,  formerly  president  of  Illinois  College. 
After  him  Henry  F.  Cope  took  the  office  and 
became  the  permanent  general  secretary  early  in 
1906. 

In  February,  1905,  a  great  inspirational  con- 
vention was  held  in  Boston.  One  hundred  and 
Third  thirty    eminent    thinkers    and    leaders 

Convention  presented  papers  on  "The  Aims  of 
Religious  Education."  One  of  the  important 
accomplishments  of  this  convention  was  the  formu- 
lation of  a  careful  statement  of  the  purpose  of  the 
organization.  The  opening  paragraph  of  this 
statement  read  as  follows:  *'The  threefold  pur- 
pose of  the  Religious  Education  Association  is: 
to  inspire  the  educational  forces  of  our  country 
with  the  religious  ideal;  to  inspire  the  religious 
forces  of  our  country  with  the  educational  ideal; 
and  to  keep  before  the  public  mind  the  ideal  of 
religious  education  and  the  sense  of  its  need  and 
value." 

Sr^ce  that  time  annual  meetings  have  been  held 
in  Cleveland  (1906);  Rochester  (1907);  Washing- 
Pro  ress      ^^^   (1908);   Chicago  (1909);   Nashville 
rogress       ^^^^^^  ^  ^^^  Providence  (1911).     It  took 

some  time  for  the  Association  to  find  itself  and 


206  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

to  discover  the  best   methods   of   accomphshlng 
its  purposes,  but   from   the  year  of  its  effective 
organization  it  has  been  able  to  render  increas- 
ingly valuable  service   to  all   kinds   of   religious 
and  educational  institutions.     Early  in  its  history 
the  question  arose  as  to  whether  it  should  seek 
to  carry  out  its  own  ideals  as,  for   instance,  in 
the  publication  of   improved  lesson  material  or 
in    conducting  courses  of  instruction   in  religion 
or  in  the  Bible.     After  mature  consideration  the 
policy    was    adopted,   which  has  since  been   ad- 
hered   to,    of    making   the   organization    one  for 
inspiration,  cooperation,  assistance,  advice,   and 
stimulation.     The  general  secretary's  report  for 
1908  said:    "It  is  generally  recognized  that  its 
[the  Association's]  primary  purpose  is  not  so  much 
to  do  things  as  to  cause  things  to  be  done.     It 
acts  as  a  center,   a  forum,   a  clearing   house,   a 
bureau  of  information  and  promotion  in  moral 
and  religious  education,  and  therefore  it  has  been 
able  this  year  to  serve  helpfully  a  larger  number 
than  ever  before,  for  it  seeks  only  to  serve,  to 
inspire,  to  aid,  and  never  to  supplant,  destroy,  or 
disrupt.     It  has  been  able,  therefore,  directly  to 
aid   many   denominations,   through   their   official 
boards,  institutions,  and  associations  as  well  as 
individuals." 

The  work  of  the  Association  is  conducted  in  the 
following  manner: 


EDUCATION     ASSOCIATION         207 

The  membership  of  the  Association  unites  in 

one   comprehensive   organization    workers    of   all 

ecclesiastical,  evangelical,  educational. 
Organization        .  ,  ,  .   ,  •      .•  i 

cultural,  and  social  organizations  who 

desire   fellowship,   mutual   exchange   of   thought, 

information  and  experience,   and  cooperation  in 

religious    education.     It    promotes    improvement 

by  the  following  means: 

Public  Agitation,  by  (1)  General  Conventions, 
for  the  stimulation  and  education  of  public  opinion 
Conventions  ^^^  ^^^  technical  studies  in  numerous 
and  departmental    meetings.      (2)    Confer- 

ences  in  important  cities,  at  summer 
assemblies,  and  at  educational  institutions,  for 
more  direct  consideration  of  problems  and  local 
needs.  (Over  two  hundred  were  held  in  1910.) 
(3)  Special  addresses  by  its  officers  at  other 
gatherings,  such  as  ecclesiastical  and  educational 
assemblies. 

Group  Organizations.  (1)  Local  guilds,  conduct- 
ing classes,  lecture  courses,  investigations,  confer- 
Investiga-  ences,  and  exhibits.  (2)  Departments, 
tions  ^}^g    membership    being    grouped    into 

seventeen  departments,  organized  for  investiga- 
tion and  promotion  in  their  special  fields. 

Publications.  (1)  Special  volumes  as  follows: 
_  , ,.  The  Improvement  of  Religious  Education 

Publications     .  ^  .       _.       -r» . 7 ,      •       t^        .•      ?    x  •/• 

(422  pp.);   The  Bible  in  Practical  Life 
(G40    pp.);     The   Aims    of    Religious    Education 


S08  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

{5^5  pp.);  'I'he  Materials  of  Religious  Education 
(380  pp.);  Education  and  National  Character  (318 
pp.).  (2)  A  magazine,  Religious  Education,  issued 
bi-monthly  (about  one  hundred  pages  in  each 
number).  (3)  Pamphlets  on  special  subjects. 
Members  receive  all  publications,  as  issued,  free 
of  charge. 

Executive  Offices  at  Chicago,  with  (1)  Perma- 
nent exhibit  of  methods  and  materials  of  religious 
Bureau  of  education;  (2)  Library  of  reference  work. 
Information  text-books,  and  special  material;  (3)  a 

andExhibit    -r»  p-r»  .•  jti?  x* 

iiureau  oi  Promotion  and  Iniormation, 
answering  inquiries  on  practical  problems,  secur- 
ing publicity,  organizing  meetings;  and  (4)  a 
secretarial  staff,  engaged  in  the  direction  and  ex- 
tension of  the  work  of  the  Association,  aiding  col- 
leges, churches,  Sunday-schools,  and  institutions 
or  individuals  in  the  solution  of  their  problems 
or  the  improvement  of  their  methods  of  religious 
education  by  correspondence  and  conference,  and 
enlisting  the  services  of  many  leaders  and 
specialists. 

While  a  large  amount  of  work  has  been  accom- 
plished, particularly  through  conferences  and 
conventions,  through  the  Bureau  of 
Information,  which  answers  many  hun- 
dreds of  inquiries  during  the  year,  and  through 
the  publication  of  the  principles  and  plans  worked 
out    by    leading    educators,  the    most    valuable 


EDUCATION     ASSOCIATION         209 

results  are  probably  the  indirect  ones,  such,  for 
example,  as  the  phenomenal  extension  of  teacher- 
training  classes;  the  development  of  the  religious 
educational  work  of  Christian  associations,  both 
in  their  own  institutions  and  in  colleges  and  uni- 
versities; the  larger  educational  work  undertaken 
by  young  people's  societies;  the  increase  in 
number  and  improvement  in  quality  of  courses 
of  study  offered  for  the  Sunday-schools;  and  the 
wide-spread  and  growing  public  interest  and 
appreciation  of  the  importance  of  religious  edu- 
cation, as'  seen  in  pulpit  and  platform  utterances, 
in  the  daily  newspapers,  and  in  religious  and  secu- 
lar journals.  Not  the  least  valuable  of  the  results 
is  to  be  found  in  the  many  books  on  the  different 
phases  of  religious  education,  books  bearing  such 
names  as  Harper,  Coe,  Hall,  King,  Pease,  Faunce, 
and  many  other  members  of  the  Religious  Edu- 
cation Association. 

Specifically,  some  of  the  problems  attacked  in 
which  the  advance  is  already  a  matter  of  general 
Problems  popular  knowledge  are:  the  gradation 
Attacked  ^jf  ^i^q  Sunday-schools  and  their  cur- 
ricula, the  larger  and  more  adequate  training  of 
teachers,  the  technical  training  of  the  minister 
for  his  educational  work  in  the  church,  the  teach- 
ing of  hygiene,  social  living,  and  morality  in  the 
schools,  and  the  moral  conditions  of  student  life 
in  the  colleges. 


210  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

This  Association  has  served  also  to  stimulate 
public  thinking  by  calling  attention  to  the  need 
Forming  ^^  moral  and  religious  training.  Few 
Public  will  question  the  statement  that  there 

was  danger  that  educators  would  be- 
come so  absorbed  with  the  intellectual  and 
informational  ideals  in  popular  education  and  with 
the  place  of  the  laboratory  and  the  specialist  in 
higher  education  that  they  would  lose  sight  alto- 
gether of  the  primacy  of  character  development 
through  these  agencies. 

In  1910  the  membership  of  the  Association 
numbered   over   twenty-seven   hundred.     At   the 

general  convention  at  Nashville  one 
In  1910         7       1     1 

hundred  and  ten  addresses  were  de- 
livered and  over  thirty  different  meetings  w^ere 
held.  During  the  preceding  year  the  Association 
conducted  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  local  con- 
ferences and  five  state  conventions  besides  the 
general  conventions. 

This  Association  has  worked  in  closest  harmony 
with  all  progressive  movements  for  the  improve- 
Cooperation  ^^^^^t  of  moral  and  religious  training.   Its 

with  Other  field  has  been  so  wide  that  it  has 
A&[6ncies 

brought  to  one  platform  for  united  work 

many  agencies  which  had  hitherto  been  quite 
separate,  such  as  the  universities  and  the  Sunday- 
schools,  the  public  schools  and  the  churches,  the 
press   and  the  home.     By   securing  their  united 


EDUCATION     ASSOCIATION         211 

cooperation  each  has  been  made  to  minister  in  a 
new  and  enlarged  measure  of  effectiveness  to 
the  other.  The  hterature  of  the  Association 
shows  papers  prepared  and  plans  worked  out  by 
educational  specialists  of  world  fame  dealing  with 
the  problems  of  the  Sunday-school,  and  it  has 
brought  to  the  improvement  and  progress  of  Sun- 
day-school work  the  very  best  that  modern  edu- 
cational science  could  offer. 


XVII 

PARALLEL  LINES   OF  PROGRESS 

The  parochial  school  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  in  the  United  States  and  the  control  of 
P  education    by    this    church    in    certain 

Catholic  other  countries  have  made  the  Sunday- 
school  less  of  a  necessity  to  them  than 
to  the  Protestant  churches.  Their  church  schools 
can  give  religious  instruction  all  through  the  week. 
Nevertheless  the  church  of  Rome  has  not  been 
slow  to  recognize  the  advantage  of  using  Sunday 
for  religious  instruction.  In  many  places,  the 
pupils  in  the  Roman  Sunday-schools  outnumber 
those  in  the  Protestant  schools.  The  more 
progressive  Catholic  churches  give  careful  atten- 
gion  to  their  Sunday-schools.  They  regard  them 
essentially  as  schools  for  teaching  Christian  doc- 
trine. The  text-books  are  usually  catechisms, 
doctrinal  manuals,  and  the  lives  of  the  saints. 

Pope  Pius  IX  called  attention  to  the  necessity 
of  Bible  study  on  the  part  of  Catholics,  and  Pius 
X,  in  1906,  issued  an  encyclical  urging  the  more 
general  and  careful   teaching   of    Christian    doc- 

212 


LINES     OF     PROGRESS  213 

trine.  These  orders,  accompanied  by  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  valuable  results  of  other  schools,  led  to 
an  awakening  of  interest  in  the  Sunday- 
Sunday-  school  and  to  the  publication  of  some 
fnterest  ^^^^  helpful  little  books  advocating  mod- 
ern methods  in  the  school.  Certain  large 
Catholic  schools,  such  as  that  of  the  Paulists  on 
Fifty-ninth  Street,  New  York,  Holy  Angels  and 
Holy  Family,  Chicago,  and  the  Sacred  Heart  in 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  have  very  large  en- 
rolments. Those  in  Chicago  are  credited  with 
over  three  thousand.  The  pupils  are  arranged 
in  grades  which  correspond  approximately  with 
the  grades  in  the  public  schools.  In  addition 
to  the  teaching  of  church  doctrines  some  schools 
give  particular  attention  to  the  teaching  of  Chris- 
tian conduct,  morals,  and  temperance. 

The  Jews  trace  without  difficulty  a  line  of 
schools  for  religious  instruction,  meeting  either 
Hebrew  on  their  Sabbath  or  on  Sunday,  to  a 
Schools  period  long  antedating  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era.  Mention  has  already  been 
made  of  the  synagogue  schools.  For  many  years 
their  form  did  not  change  greatly  after  the  work 
of  Simon  Ben  Shetach.  Wherever  there  were 
synagogues  there  were  classes,  and  for  all  practical 
purposes  these  classes  may  be  regarded  as  con- 
stituting religious  schools.  The  tides  of  perse- 
cution and  the  long-continued  political  opposition 


214     EVOLUTION    OF    S  U  N  D  A  Y- S  C  H  O  O  L 

and  oppression  did  not  prevent  the  Hebrews  from 
worshiping  or  from  reading  and  studying  their 
sacred  Hterature.  In  every  orthodox  family 
through  the  long  history  of  Judaism  the  children 
were  instructed  in  the  traditions  of  their  race. 
Whenever  the  evening  lamp  was  lit,  whenever 
there  was  a  feast  day  or  a  fast  day,  even  in  the 
act  of  entering  and  leaving  the  home,  education 
in  the  facts  of  their  faith  was  given.  The  mass  of 
traditional  literature  grew  and  the  zeal  for  the  law 
grew  with  it  and  helped  to  keep  bright  the  light 
of  religious  learning.  The  orthodox  Jewish  schools 
of  modern  times  differ  from  those  of  the  time  of 
Christ  only  in  the  direction  of  elaboration  of 
curricula  and  greater  formalism  in  work. 

The  reformed  wing  of  Judaism  early  adopted 
modern  methods.  In  1868  they  organized  the 
Reformed  Hebrew  Sabbath  School  Union  of 
Judaism  America.  Since  then  special  hymn- 
books  and  services  have  been  prepared,  text- 
books have  been  written,  and  all  the  organization 
of  a  modern  system  of  Sunday-schools  has  been 
accomplished.  Under  the  leadership  of  rabbis 
like  Philippson,  Silverman,  Wise,  Gries,  and  Gross- 
man a  high  degree  of  educational  efficiency  has 
been  reached.  Their  schools  were  amongst  the 
first  to  conceive  the  values  of  exhibits  of  objects 
of  interest  in  Jewish  history.  They  were  also 
amongst  the  first  to  organize  special  committees 


LINES     OF     PROGRESS  215 

on  education  in  their  congregations  and  to  demand 
of  their  pupils  strict  adherence  to  courses  of  study 
and  to  standards  of  attainment. 

In  the  United  States  the  Sunday-school  idea 
has  seen  its  most  striking  realization  and,  doubt- 

The  Sunday-  ^^^^'  ^^^  ^^^^  manifestations  of  its  pur- 
School  pose  and  possibilities.     This  develop- 

^°^  ment  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  ad- 

vantages of  freedom  in  religious  belief  and  to  the 
restrictions  imposed  on  public  education  by  its 
complete  separation  from  the  church.  The  result- 
ant limitation  of  the  opportunity  of  the  public 
school  has  thrown  a  much  larger  responsibility  on 
the  Sunday-school.  In  fact,  the  development  of 
the  latter  has  always  been  most  marked  wherever 
there  has  been  the  greatest  insistence  on  the 
freedom  of  the  public  schools  from  doctrinal  or 
biblical  instruction. 

In  1907  there  were  in  Protestant  Sunday-schools 
in  the  United  Kingdom  about  seven  and  a  half 
Great  million  pupils  and  nearly  seven  hundred 

Britain  thousand  teachers.    The  work  of  all  was 

united  in  that  of  the  Sunday-school  Union,  with 
offices  in  London.  The  special  features  of  the 
English  Sunday  schools  at  this  time  were:  (1) 
Newly  awakened  interest  in  the  training  of  teach- 
ers. The  most  important  work  is  that  done 
through  special  institutions,  as,  for  instance,  the 
college  and  university  extension  lecture  courses 


216  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

(particularly  at  Manchester  and  Liverpool),  the 
training  institute  for  Sunday-school  workers  at 
Selby  Oak  near  Birmingham,  and  the  publication 
of  a  special  series  of  text-books  for  the  use  of 
teachers.  (2)  The  development  of  special  related 
organizations,  such  as  Temperance  Unions,  Church 
Lads'  Brigade,  Boy  Scouts,  and  Girls'  Friendly 
Societies.  (3)  The  special  development  of  adult 
schools  for  men  and  women,  organized  by  the 
Friends.  In  April,  1907,  there  were  thirteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy  eight  of  these  schools,  with  a 
total  membership  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand. 
The  schools  usually  met  early  on  Sundays,  had 
Bible  instruction,  were  self-governing,  and  fre- 
quently conducted  many  forms  of  social  work, 
especially  along  cooperative  lines.  (4)  The  ex- 
tensive work  of  the  Sunday-school  Union  in 
publishing  general  literature,  conducting  Rest 
Homes,  and  in  promoting  teacher-training. 

While    the    Sunday-school    has    developed    in 
Great  Britain  in  a  manner  parallel  in  part  to  that 

in  the  United  States,  there  have  been 
Differences  £    ^  -i  -         ra  t* 

between       a  number  oi  strikmg  dmerences.     lo  a 

Schools'in  certain  extent  the  need  for  religious 
Great  instruction  has  not  been  so  keenly  felt, 

and  the        since,     until    about     1890,    practically 
United         j^jj    schools   gave   religious   instruction, 
setting  aside  certain  periods  for  teaching 
the  Bible  and  also,  usually,  for  teaching  the  cate- 


LINES     OP     PROGRESS  217 

chism  of  the  English  Established  Church.  As  late 
as  1898  the  London  School  Board  set  up  a  scheme 
of  Bible  study  for  periods  of  one  half  hour  of  each 

day. 

The  church  schools  in  Great  Britain  have  been 
schools  for  children  almost  exclusively.  Never- 
theless, some  of  the  largest  schools  in  the  world 
are  there,  as  that  at  Stockport  (founded  in  the 
lifetime  of  Raikes),  with  nearly  five  thousand 
members  enrolled.  For  many  decades  the  British 
schools  have  held  two  sessions,  morning  and  after- 
noon of  each  Sunday.  The  morning  school  con- 
vened before  church  service,  and  the  older  pupils, 
attended  by  their  teachers,  would  usually  be  taken 
to  the  service  in  classes.  The  Sunday-schools  of 
the  Episcopal  church  have  usually  remained  sep- 
arate from  all  others,  with  their  own  courses  of 
study;  in  1902  their  schools  had  over  two  hundred 
thousand  teachers  and  half  that  number  of  district 
visitors.  In  Scotland  the  teaching  in  the  schools 
has  been  much  more  largely  catechetical  than  in 
England. 

In  France  no  religious  instruction  is  given  in 
the  public  schools,  but  in  1882  a  law  was  passed 
making  the  teaching  of  morals  compul- 
sory. All  public-school  pupils  for  many 
years  had  the  right  to  be  absent  one  half  day  in 
the  week  for  religious  instruction  in  their  churches. 
Until  1907  there  were  a  large  number  of  schools  on 


£18  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

religious  foundations  which  gave  formal  instruc- 
tion in  the  Catholic  doctrines.  In  1856  Mr. 
Albert  Woodruff,  of  Brooklyn,  founder  of  the 
American  Foreign  Sunday-school  Society,  visited 
Paris  and  persuaded  the  English-speaking  resi- 
dents to  establish  Sunday-schools.  In  1878  the 
London  Sunday-School  Union  had  eighty-eight 
schools  in  that  city.  In  1893  it  was  estimated 
that  about  sixty  thousand  children  were  enrolled 
in  Sunday-schools. 

Luther  insisted  on  the  need  for  religious  teach- 
ing   in    the    schools.     In    1533    the    Wittenberg 

school  provided,  "One  day,  Wednes- 
Germany        .  rx    .       i  •      i?  t    • 

day  or  Saturday,  is  for  religious  in- 
struction." Ever  since  then  the  schools  of  Ger- 
many have  had  regular  religious  instruction  in 
both  elementary  and  secondary  schools.  The  De- 
partment of  Education  spends  a  large  amount  of 
money  to  support  the  "  Religionsunterricht " ; 
but  there  is  a  grave  question  as  to  its  actual  value 
to  the  religious  life  of  the  German  people.  Mr. 
Albert  Woodruff  in  Germany,  as  in  Paris,  intro- 
duced the  American  type  of  Sunday-school  in 
1856.  Since  then  the  number  has  grown  steadily. 
In  1874  there  were  over  a  thousand  schools,  and 
in  1902  an  enrolment  of  over  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  students  in  Sunday-schools. 

Norway  deserves  to  stand  out  by  itself,  not 
because  there  are  so  many  schools,  but  because 


LINES     OF     PROGRESS  219 

there  is  a  live  interest  in  that  country  in  the 
improvement  of  religious  education.  They  have 
^  ^  special  societies  for  the  development 
of  the  Sunday-school  and  at  least  one 
magazine  devoted  to  its  advance. 

In  other  parts  of  Europe  the  schools  have  been 
developed  either  by  the  efforts  of  the  London 
In  Other  Sunday-SchooI  Union,  of  the  American 
Lands  Foreign   Sunday-School   Society,  or  by 

the  direct  work  of  missionaries  on  their  fields. 
On  the  whole  the  schools  have  followed  the  lines 
laid  down  by  conditions  in  the  countries  which 
have  been  promoting  them.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  school  in  non-Christian  lands,  though  the 
interest  manifest  in  special  conventions  and  later 
in  institutes  has  been  highly  encouraging.  Japan 
has  a  Sunday-school  Association  with  paid  secre- 
taries. In  1910  they  had  one  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  schools  with  eighty-seven 
thousand  pupils  and  teachers.  Thus  the  Sunday- 
school  has  encircled  the  world  and  is  one  of  the 
mighty  modern  forces  binding  all  nations  together 
in  united  study,  faith,  and  service. 


QUESTIONS    FOR   REVIEW 


CHAPTER  I 

How  far  back  may  we  trace  the  spiritual  roots  of  the 
Sunday-school? 

What  is  the  essential  spirit  which  makes  this  school 
necessary? 

What  would  you  call  the  distinguishing  characteristic 
in  all  education  which  appears  at  its  best  in  the  Sunday- 
school? 

What  are  the  traces  of  religious  educational  interests 
amongst  primitive  peoples? 

Who  were  the  earliest  religious  teachers? 

What  memorials  have  we  of  religious  education  in 
Egypt? 

What  place  did  the  great  ethical  code  of  China  have 
in  the  Chinese  educational  system? 

Mention  some  of  the  great  teachers  of  early  Greece. 

What  were  some  of  the  religious  elements  in  Roman 
education? 

What  was  the  most  important  institution  in  the  early 
education  of  the  Hebrew  youth? 

Why  were  separate  religious  schools  unnecessary 
amongst  the  Hebrews? 

What  is  the  importance  of  the  Synagogue  in  later 
Hebrew  educational  activity? 

220 


QUESTIONS    FOR    REVIEW  221 

In  what  way  was  the  Synagogue  service  like  a  Sun- 
day-school? 

What  were  three  kinds  of  religious  schools  in  exist- 
ence at  the  time  of  Jesus? 

What  was  the  curriculum  of  these  schools? 

Describe  the  conditions  of  study. 

In  what  sense  may  Christianity  be  considered  as  a 
teaching  religion? 


CHAPTER  II 

Mention  some  characteristic  of  early  Christian  meet- 
ings. 

In  what  way  did  early  Christianity  provide  for 
religious  instruction? 

Would  the  early  Christians  cease  to  give  instruction 
in  Old  Testament  customs  and  history? 

Mention  some  of  the  evidences  of  Gentile  interest 
in  early  religious  education.    ' 

Give  some  characteristics  of  the  discourses  in  early 
Christianity. 

What  was  the  relation  of  the  Synagogue  school  to 
the  new  faith? 

What  was  the  earliest  regular  school  for  Christian 
teaching? 

Tell  what  you  can  of  general  conditions  in  Alex- 
andria. 

Describe  the  Alexandrian  school. 

What  was  the  purpose  of  the  catechetical  schools? 

What  were  the  general  grades  in  these  schools? 


222   EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Did  the  early  Christian  schools  have  any  influence 
on  general  education? 

Was  the  early  theological  seminary  at  Alexandria 
practically  related  to  the  schools  for  children? 


CHAPTER  III 

Who  was  the  monk  called  to  organize  the  educational 
system  of  Charlemagne? 

From  what  activities  in  religious  education  did  he 
come? 

What  were  the  special  causes  leading  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  early  universities? 

In  the  medieval  period  were  the  people  wholly 
ignorant  of  religion? 

What  service  did  the  wandering  scholars  render? 

What  service  did  the  wandering  friars  render? 

In  what  way  were  the  monasteries  schools  of  religious 
education? 

Describe  the  work  of  the  Brethren  of  the  common 
life. 

What  was  Luther's  first  contribution  to  the  literature 
of  religious  education? 

What  did  he  seek  to  do  for  public  education? 

What  do  we  know  about  Carlo  Borromeo  and  his 
work? 

Describe  the  bands  organized  by  Zinzendorf. 

Describe  conditions  in  the  Netherlands  at  this 
time. 

What  did  the  Jesuit  schools  attempt? 

Tell  wh3,t  we  know  of  the  work  of  Hannah  Ball. 


QUESTIONS    FOR    REVIEW  223 

In  what  way  were  the  great  English  public  schools 
religious? 

What  contribution  did  Raikes  make  to  public  edu- 
cation in  England? 


CHAPTER  IV 

Give  the  date  and  place  of  the  birth  of  Robert  Raikes. 

What  were  his  circumstances  and  occupation? 

With  what  class  of  persons  did  he  first  labor? 

What  did  his  schools  seek  to  accomplish? 

Were  they  the  first  religious  Sunday-schools? 

What  are  their  differences  as  compared  with  our 
Sunday-schools  ? 

In  what  sense  is  Raikes  the  father  of  the  Sunday- 
school? 

What  was  the  great  underlying  motive  of  Raikes? 

What  special  contribution  did  he  make  to  education? 


CHAPTER  V 

What  was  the  purpose  of  early  general  education  in 
New  England? 

What  was  the  public  education  element  of  religious 
instruction? 

Were  separate  Sunday-schools  necessary  in  early 
New  England? 

How  did  special  instruction  for  children  on  Sundays 
begin  ? 

Mention  some  of  the  earliest  instances. 


224  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Was  the  Raikes  plan  precisely  suited  to  conditions 
in  North  America? 

Describe  the  organization  of  the  First  Day  or  Sun- 
day-school Society. 

CHAPTER  VI 

With  what  organization  did  the  Sunday-school  come 
into  closer  relations  in  North  America? 

What  was  the  attitude  of  the  church  to  the  school 
in  Great  Britain? 

What  did  Wesley  think  of  the  early  Sunday-schools? 

Give  some  of  the  instances  of  church  oversight  of 
schools  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

Wliat  is  the  distinctive  American  idea  of  the  Sunday- 
school? 

In  what  way  have  American  Sunday-schools  devel- 
oped differently  from  the  English? 

What  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  adoption  of  the 
school  by  the  church? 

CHAPTER  VII 

When  was  the  British  Sunday-School  Union  or- 
ganized? 

What  are  some  of  its  activities? 

When  was  the  American  Sunday-School  Union 
organized? 

What  were  the  component  elements? 

What  were  its  early  activities? 

Show  the  importance  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
enterprise. 


QUESTIONS    FOR    REVIEW  225 

In  what  way  did  the  denominations  relate  themselves 
institutionally  to  the  Sunday-school? 

Describe  the  work  of  the  Methodist  church  in  pro- 
moting the  Sunday-school. 

Describe  the  work  of  the  Congregational  churches. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

What  was  the  earlier  form  of  organization  of  the 
International  Sunday-School  Association? 

Mention  some  of  the  special  activities  of  the  organ- 
ization. 

What  were  the  characteristics  of  conventions  before 
1869? 

What  was  the  special  action  of  importance  taken  in 
the  Fifth  Convention? 

What  of  importance  in  the  First  International  Con- 
vention? 

What  new  activities  developed  in  the  Fifth  Inter- 
national Convention? 

Mention  the  principal  employed  officers  of  the 
Association. 

What  is  the  work  of  some  of  the  subsidiary  organiza- 
tions? 

What  service  has  the  Association  rendered? 


CHAPTER  IX 

What  were  the  subjects  of  study  in  the  early  Raikes 
schools? 


226  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

When   were   regular   Bible   stories   and   work   first 

introduced? 

What  was  the  beginning  of  connected  lessons? 

Who  were  the  leaders  in  lesson  improvement  after 
the  "Babel"  period? 

Give  the  steps  of  early  progress  in  lesson  develop- 
ment. 

What  was  the  special  reason  for  uniform  les- 
sons? 

When  was  the  first  lesson  committee  appointed? 

What     contribution     have     the     uniform     lessons 

made? 

Mention  some  of  the  defects  of  this  system. 

What  were  some  early  departures  from  the  uniform 

plan? 

How  were  the  early  departures  received? 

What  was  the  purpose  of  supplemental  lessons? 

Mention  other  extra  lesson  schemes. 

What  were  the  earliest  graded  lessons  adopted  by 
the  International  Sunday-School  Association? 

What  was  the  critical  period  of  lesson  development 
in  the  American  Sunday-school? 

Describe  the  action  taken  at  the  Louisville  Conven- 
tion in  1908. 

What  is  the  scope  of  the  present  series  of  graded 

lessons? 

Who  are  some  of  the  persons  who  led  in  the  adoption 
of  graded  lessons? 

Mention  some  of  the  notable  series  of  graded  les- 
sons. 

What  was  the  plan  of  the  Bible  Study  Union? 


QUESTIONS    FOR    REVIEW  227 

CHAPTER  X 

Describe  the  change  in  the  principal  aim  of  the 
Sunday-school  during  the  last  fifty  years. 

Show  how  the  developing  aim  can  be  traced  in  the 
literature  of  the  school.  i  ' 

What  effect  has  the  change  in  aim  had  upon  the 
form  of  organization? 

What  results  have  followed  from  the  special  develop- 
ment of  the  primary  department  and  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  primary  unions.'^ 


CHAPTER    XI 

What  is  the  period  of  greatest  progress  in  the  Sun- 
day-school? 

Has  the  Sunday-school  any  important  relation  to 
world  thought? 

In  what  way  has  scientific  thought  influenced  the 
Sunday-school? 

What  relation  does  the  new  psychology  hold  to  the 
modern  school? 

In  what  new  place  do  we  set  the  child  in  the  modern 
school? 

What  new  meanings  are  we  finding  in  religious 
education? 

What  ^special  new  needs  does  the  modern  school 
seek  to  meet? 

Mention  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  recent 
literature  created  for  the  modern  school. 

What  service  is  educational  science  rendering? 


228  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Describe  some  of  the  developments  in  special  archi- 
tecture. 

Tell  of  the  work  of  directors  of  religious  education. 

CHAPTER  XII 

Tell  of  some  of  the  forerunners  of  modern  teacher- 
training. 

Who  was  the  organizer  of  the  earliest  normal  classes? 

Describe  the  first  institutes  for  teachers. 

What  contribution  did  Chautauqua  make  to  teacher- 
training? 

Tell  of  the  beginnings  of  organized  teacher-training. 

What  part  did  the  primary  union  play  in  the  develop- 
ment of  teacher-training  work? 

What  is  the  Department  of  Education  in  the  Inter- 
national Sunday-School  Association? 

What  were  some  of  the  standards  adopted  in  1908? 

How  do  the  denominations  cooperate  in  teacher- 
training? 

What  contribution  have  theological  seminaries  made 
in  this  direction? 

How  has  teacher- training  developed  in  Great  Britain? 

What  contribution  have  the  universities  and  colleges 
made? 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Mention  some  of  the  earlier  great  adult  classes. 
When   were   special   organizations   of  adult   classes 
formed? 

What  is  the  Baraca? 


QUESTIONS    FOR    REVIEW  229 

What  relation  do  the  Brotherhoods  hold  to  adult 
classes? 

What  work  do  the  Brotherhoods  attempt? 

What  special  benefits  come  from  adult  classes? 

What  is  the  significance  of  this  movement  in  the  life 
of  the  church?  - 

CHAPTER  XIV 

What  was  the  condition  as  to  popular  Bible  study 
a  century  ago? 

Give  some  of  the  results  of  the  activity  of  the  Sun- 
day-school in  Bible  study. 

Show  the  contribution  by  way  of  text-books. 

Has  the  Sunday-school  influenced  popular  literature 
on  the  Bible? 

What  is  the  relation  of  teacher- training  to  general 
biblical  study? 

What  changing  conceptions  have  come  about  as  to 
the  Bible? 

What  of  the  relation  of  the  Sunday-school  to  Bible 
study  in  the  present  day? 

CHAPTER  XV 

When  were  the  first  popular  libraries  started? 

What  did  Raikes  do  for  popular  reading  primers? 

Describe  some  of  the  early  Sunday-school  books. 

When  was  the  first  Sunday-school  library  estab- 
lished? 

What  service  did  the  Sunday  School  Union  render 
to  libraries? 


230     EVOLUTION    OF    SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Describe  the  system  of  tracts. 

What  has  the  Sunday-school  library  done  for  public 
libraries? 

What  is  the  modern  system  of  a  library  for  a  Sunday- 
school? 

CHAPTER  XVI 

When  was  the  Religious  Education  Association 
organized? 

What  were  the  reasons  for  this  organization? 

What  are  some  of  the  departments  of  its  work? 

What  relation  does  it  sustain  to  Sunday-school 
organizations? 

How  does  it  carry  on  its  w^ork? 

What  are  some  of  its  important  publications? 

What  contribution  has  it  made  to  Sunday-school 
progress? 

CHAPTER  XVII 

Tell  of  recent  developments  in  Roman  Catholic 
Sunday-schools. 

How  do  the  Hebrews  care  for  the  religious  instruc- 
tion of  their  young  today? 

What  is  the  present  condition  of  Sunday-schools  in 
Great  Britain? 

When  did  work  begin  in  France? 

Describe  the  conditions  in  Germany. 


SOME   HELPFUL   BOOKS   FOR 
FURTHER   STUDY 

THE  GENESIS  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

I.  Primitive  People  and  Early  Civilization 
Burnouf ,  Emile.     The  Science  of  Religions. 
Brinton.     Religions  of  Primitive  Peoples. 
Crozier.     History  of  Intellectual  Development. 
Graves.     A  History  of  Education:  Before  the  Middle 

Ages.     Part  I. 

Deniker.     Races  of  Men. 
Freeman.     The  Schools  of  Hellas, 

II.  Among  the  Hebrews 

Laurie.     Historical  Survey  of  Pre-Christian  Educa- 
tion. 

Article,   Education,  in   Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the 

Bible. 

Kent.     Great  Teachers  of  Judaism  and  Christianity. 

Trumbull.     Yale  Lectures  on  The  Sunday  School. 

Graves.     A  History  of  Education:  Before  the  Middle 
Ages.     Part  II. 

Article,  Education ,  in  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

Solomon   Ibn    Gebirol.     Improvement  of   the  Moral 
Qualities.     Translated  by  S.  S.  Wise. 

Lazarus.     Ethics  of  Judaism. 

231 


232  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

III.   New  Testament  Times 

Article,   EducatioUy  in   Hastings'  Dictionary  of   the 

Bible. 

Schiirer.     History  of  Jewish  People  in  Time  of  Jesus 

Christ. 

Edersheim.     Life  and  Times  of  Jesus. 

Mathews.     History    of    New    Testament    Times    in 
Palestine. 

Trumbull.     Yale  Lectures  on  The  Sunday  School. 

Early  Christian  Church 

Hodgson.     Primitive  Christian  Education. 
Quick.     Educational  Reformers. 
Trumbull.     Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday  School. 
Draper.     Intellectual  Development  of  Europe. 
Dill.     Roman   Society   in   Last   Century   of  Empire. 
Book  V. 

Lights  in  the  Gloom  (Medieval) 

Emerton.     Medieval  Europe,  particularly  pp.  437  ff. 

Painter.    History  of  Education,  particularly  pp.  116  ff. 

Compayre.     History  of  Pedagogy. 

Graves.  A  History  of  Education.  Vol.  II.  The 
Mediaeval  Period. 

Guizot.     Course  11.     Lectures  14,  15. 

Laurie.  Rise  and  Early  Institution  of  the  Universi- 
ties. 

Magevney.     Christian  Education  in  the  Dark  Ages, 

D'Aubigny.     History  of  the  Reformation. 

(Students  desiring  to  make  a  thorough  investigation 
should  secure  Professor  James  W.  Thompson,  Reference 


GENESIS    OF    THE    SUNDAY-SCHOOL      233 

Studies  in  Mediceval  History^  a  very  full  bibliography 
on  this  period  —  University  of  Chicago  Press,  35  c.) 

Robert  Raikes 

Harris.     Story  of  Robert  Raikes. 

Reed.     Evolution  of  the  Sunday  School  (pamphlet). 

Merrill,  in  Development  of  the  Sunday  School^  Official 
Report  of  the  Eleventh  International  Sunday  School 
Convention. 

Early  Schools  in  North  America 

Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowledge. 
Sunday  Schools. 

Brown.     Sunday-School  Movements  in  America. 

Development  of  the  Sunday  School.  International 
Sunday  School  Association. 

Annual  Reports  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday- 
School  Union,  1851. 

Pamphlets  of  the  American  Sunday-School  Union. 

Michael.     Sunday-Schools  of  the  American  Church. 

Development  through  Organizations 

Reports  of  the  International  Sunday-School  Associa- 
tion. 

McCullagh.     Sunday-School  Man  in  the  South. 

Vincent.     Modern  Sunday  School. 

Myer.  Graded  Sunday  School  in  Principle  and 
Practice. 

The  Period  of  Intensive  Development 
Proceedings  of  The  Religious  Education  Association, 


234  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

5  Vols.,  particularly  Annual  Surveys  of  Sunday-School 
Progress. 

Coe.     Education  in  Religion  and  Morals. 

Vincent.     Modern  Sunday  School. 

Lawrence.     How  to  Conduct  Sunday  School. 

Cope.  Modern  Sunday  School  in  Principle  and 
Practice. 

Mead.     Modern  Methods  in  the  Sunday  School. 

Reports  of  Conventions  of  International  Sunday 
School  Association. 

Religious  Education  (magazine),  Vol.  IV,  pp.  228, 
442;  Vol.  v.,  pp.  251  jff.,   487  ff. 

Lesson  Systems 

Gilbert.     The  Lesson  System. 

Rice.  History  of  International  Lesson  System. 
(American  Sunday-School  Union.) 

Proceedings  of  The  Religious  Education  Associa- 
tion, 5  Vols.;  particularly  Vol.  I,  pp.  200  ff.;  Vol.  II, 
pp.  221  ff.,  pp.  243  ff.;   Vol.  IV,  pp.  115  ff. 

Religious  Education  (magazine).  Vol.  II,  pp.  170  f., 
235;  Vol.  Ill,  p.  306;  Vol.  IV,  pp.  431  f.,  437;  Vol.  V, 
pp.  267,  487. 

The  Teacher 

Brown.     Sunday-School  Movements  in  America, 
Haslett.     Pedagogical  Bible  School 
Meyer.     Graded  Sunday- School. 

International    Sunday-School    Association 
Much    valuable    material     in    Development    of    The 


GENESIS    OF    THE    SUNDAY-SCHOOL       235 

Sunday-School.       Report    of    the    Toronto    Conven- 
tion. 

See  also  bibliography  above,  on  The  Lesson  System. 

School  for  Adults 

Wood  and  Hall.     Adult  Bible  Classes. 

Cope.     The  Efficient  Layman. 

Pamphlets  of  the  Illinois  State  Sunday-School  Asso- 
ciation. 

Pamphlets  of  the  Cook  County  Sunday-School 
Association. 

Pamphlets  of  the  International  Sunday-School  Asso- 
ciation, Adult  Department. 

Pamphlets  of  organized  classes  in  churches. 

Sunday-School  and  Bible  Study 

Brand  In  Aiins  of  Religious  Education,  p.  202  ff. 
Willett.     Proceedings  first  Convention,  Religious  Edu- 
cation Association^  p.  93. 

F.  T.  Lee.     Bible  Study  Popularized. 
Selleck.     New  Application  of  the  Bible. 

Parallel  Lines  of  Progress 

Sloan.  The  Sunday  School  Teacher's  Guide  to  Success 
(Roman  Catholic). 

Sloan.     The  Sunday  School  Director's  Guide. 
Roberts.     The  Church  and  the  Next  Generation. 
Sheldon.     An  Ethical  Sunday  School. 
The  Jewish  Encyclopedia^ 


236  EVOLUTION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Causes  and  Factors  in  Recent  Development 

Starbuck.     Psychology  of  Religion. 

Coe.     Education  in  Religion  and  Morals. 

Butler  et  al.     Principles  of  Religious  Education. 

Publications  of  The  Religious  Education  Association. 


INDEX 


Adult  lessons,  118 

Adults,  school  for,  174 

Alcuin  of  York,  29 

Alexandria,  church  and  schools 
in,  22 

American  idea,  75 

American  Sunday  School  Union, 
82 

American  Sunday  School  Union 
libraries,  197 

Architecture  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  148 

Assyria,  religious  education  in,  5 

B 

Ball,  Miss  Hannah,  43 

Baptist  schools,  89 

Baraca  organization,  176 

Beginners'  lessons,  117 

Beginning  of  Sunday-school  his- 
tory, 4 

Bellarmine  of  Capua,  38 

Bible,  new  view  of,  191 

Bible  study  and  the  Sunday- 
school,  182 

Bible-study  institutes,  189 

Bible-study  text-books,  185 

Bible  Study  Union,  126 

Borromeo,  Carlo,  38 


British    Sunday    School    Union, 

81 
Brotherhoods,  176 


Catechetical  schools,  23 
Charlestown,   S.  C,   conference, 

73 
Chautauqua's  contribution,  159 
Child      fundamental      to      the 

school,  141 
China,    religious    education    in, 

5 
Christian,    early,    church,    14 
Christianity   and  education,   28 
Christianity,  early  schools  in,  21 
Church  adopting  the  school,  68 
Church  as  a  school,  24,  129 
Church,   early  meetings  for  in- 
struction, 18 
Church  school,  124 
Common  Life,  Brethren  of  the, 

34 
Congregational  schools,  88 
Constructive  Bible  Studies,  125 
Conventions,  early,  93 
Curriculum,  problem  of  the,  102 

D 

Directors  of  religious  education, 
149 


237 


238 


INDEX 


E 

Early    schools    in    the    United 

States,  74 

Education,    department    of,    in 

International  Association,  162 

Educational  aim  of  Raikes,  54 

Educational     science     and     the 

school,   146 
Eggleston,  Edward,  95,  103 
Egypt,  religious  education  in,  5 
England,  early  education  in,  30 
English  and  American  schools, 

76 
English  public  schools,  35 
English  schools,  215 
English  schools,  modern,  76 
Episcopal    joint    diocesan    com- 
mission, 111 
Erasmus,  35 

F 

Field  workers'  organization,  98 
"First-Day   or    Sunday    School 

Society,"  65 
France,  schools  in,  217 
Francke,  Hermann,  41 
Friends'  lesson  courses,  113 

G 

Gall,  Dr.  James,  102 

Genesis  of  the  Sunday-school,  3 

Germany,  Protestant  schools  of, 

42 
Germany,  schools  in,  218 
Graded  lessons,  120 
Graded  schools,  early,  23 
Greece,  religious  education  jn,  6 
Groot,  Gerard,  34 


H 

Hebrew  schools,  modem,  213 
Hebrews,  early  religious  educa- 
tion among,  7 
Home  department  organization, 
97 

I 

India,  religious  education  in,  5 
International     Sunday     School 
Association,  91 


Jacobs,  B.  F.,  95,  103,  104 
Jesuit  schools,  40 
Jesus  as  a  teacher,  11 
Jewish  Christian  homes,  16 
Jewish  school  described,  10 
Jews,  religious  education  among, 

8 
John  of  Nassau,  39 
Josephus,  quoted,  9 

K 

Kindermaun,  43 


Lesson  committee,  106 
Lesson  system,  story  of,  101 
Library,     early     Sunday-school, 

195 
Libraries  and  the  Sunday-school, 

193 
Literature  of  the  Sunday-school, 

131,  145 
Luther,  36 
Lutheran  schools,  88 


INDEX 


239 


M 
McElfresh,    F.  W.,    report    on 

teacher  training,   172 
Medieval  period,  29 
Medieval  saints,  32 
Men  and  the  Sunday-school,  178 
Methodist  Episcopal  schools,  87 
Missionary  lessons,  116 
Mississippi  Valley  campaign,  84 
Modern  progress,  136 
Monasteries,  33 
Motive   of    the    Sunday-school, 

3,  12,  53,  56 

N 
New  England,  beginnings  in,  61 
North  America,  early  schools  in, 

o 

Oberlin,  John  Frederic,  43 
Opposition  to  the  school,   69 
Organizations  for  promotion,  80 


Parish  schools,  35 

Periodicals,  199 

Philadelphia  "First-Day  Soci- 
ety," 65 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  Sunday- 
school,  62 

Popular  education  in  Judea,  8 

Presbyterian  schools,  89 

Primary  unions,  133 

Progress  in  recent  times,  212 

Psychology  and  the  Sunday- 
school,  139 

Public  education  in  England, 
45,55 


Public  education  in  the  United 
States,  64 


Quintilian,  17 


Q 


R 


Raikes,  Robert,  47 

Raikes'    schools,    characteristics 

of,  49 
Raikes,  service  rendered  by,  50 
Religious     Education     Associa- 
tion, history  of,  201 
Religious     Education     Associa- 
tion, work  of,  207 
Religious    education    in    Chris- 
tianity, 15 
Religious    education    in    medie- 
val periods,  29 
Religious    education    in    North 

America,  59 
Religious      education,      modern 

meanings  in,  143 
Religious  education,  primitive,  4 
Religious  motive  of  the  school,  4 
Roman  Catholic  schools,  212 
Rome,  religious  education  in,  7 
Roxbury,  Mass.,  Sunday-school, 

62 

S 

Scientific  thought  and  the 
school,  138 

Significance  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  3 

"Society  for  Promoting  Sun- 
day Schools,"  48 

Supplemental  lessons,  114 

Synagogue  schools,  20 


240 


INDEX 


Teacher,  evolution  of  the,   154 
Teacher  training,  156,  161 
Teacher  training  in  colleges,  169 
Teacher  training  institute,  157 
Teacher  training  standards,  103, 

165 
Temperance  lessons,  115 
Theological  seminary  and  early 

Sunday-school,  26,  166 
Trumbull,  H.  C,  95,  106 

U 

Uniform  lessons  adopted,   96 
Uniform  lessons,  difficulties  of, 

108 
Uniform  lessons,  service  of,  107 
Unitarian  lessons.  111 


Unitarian  schools,  88 
Universities,  rise  of  the,  31 


Vincent,  John  H.,  95,  103,  104 

w 

Wandering  friars,  33 
Wandering  scholars,  32 
Wesley,  John,  quoted,  48,  71 


Xavier,  Francis,  37 


Zinzendorf,  39 
Zwingli,  39 


Date  Due 


Q  '^.V 


F  22'38 


9  -. 


Wv  1  e  '38 


^12  5S 


MOfi/ 


#    T 


^^-•41 


l»«6 


'4B 


F  »5  '48 


6  .18  'li   .p9  7-49 


4^-1 


H  '421''   ^2 '48 


H 


v.:^ 


V  t    '46 


-IT'^ 


OE  3    '4(1 


-f^. 


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